Saturday 29 August 2020

Will Hillary and the Dems get the civil war they are trying to provoke?

 

If you have not already seen this, check out this video of Hillary Clinton stating that, quote, “Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances“:

“Any” means “any”. That would include the (admittedly hypothetical) case of Trump clearly winning by a landslide. Again, “any” means “any”.

The direct implications of that is that the Dems should re-take the White House by any and all means and under any and all circumstances.

That is also a direct appeal to sabotage the US democracy which, as flawed as it is, is the only rule of law based option currently available to the people of the USA.

Will that result in a civil war?

That is rather unlikely, because for a civil war you need to have at least two credible parties which can coordinate attacks and defensive operations on, at least, a regional scale. I don’t see that in the USA.

But I don’t see how local/regional violence (at times severe) and political chaos can be avoided.

We already know that the Dems will never accept a Trump victory.

We also know that the Trump supporters will claims that the USPS cannot be trusted with mail voting (I totally agree with them, the USPS is one of the worst postal services of any developed country on the planet).

Then there is the following issue: as police departments are “defunded” and cops are resigning en masse (and I sure can’t blame them!), simple citizens will have to increasingly protect themselves, which many of them can do, but the problem here is that these citizens are then charged while the surviving BLM and/or Antifa thugs walk free, even if they attacked first.

In some US states (like Florida, thank God for that!), the local Sheriffs will stand by their citizens and the local DAs will not prosecute those who used lethal force to defend themselves against a short list of forcible felonies (including home violations, carjackings, rapes, etc.). Just listen to this selection of FL sheriffs:

I have been a Florida resident since 18 years now and I can sincerely say that I don’t recommend BLM/Antifa try to loot or riot in Florida, because they will be met with a lot of force and a legal system which strongly favors the law abiding citizen, including in cases of self-defense.

But in northern states?!

So far, if I am not mistaken, most of the riots so far have taken place in northern states (Atlanta is in the south, but it is also not truly a “southern city” since it is run by BLM/Antifa sympathizers; the same could be said about Miami, FL, by the way).

This is probably not a coincidence. And this has nothing to do with “southern racism” (in my experience southerners are no more racist than northerners), but much more with a culture of self-defense, rooted in the land, which makes southern people much more likely to “circle the wagons” and act together.

And while I never bought the (rather silly) arguments that “guns protect the people from tyranny” (tyrants typically have trained and professional forces which can make minced meat of any armed civilians!), I do believe that armed citizens can very effectively stop rioting thugs (just remember how the Koreans of L.A. defended themselves and their stores during the L.A. riots).

Luckily, southern states are much more faithful to the US Constitution than those northern states which have “castrated” the 2nd Amendment “by a thousand (legislative) cuts” (there are, exceptions, of course).

This is not widely known, but in about 25%-30% or so of cases or armed robbery by thugs, their guns either don’t work, or they are fake. Their ammo often sucks too (either bad condition, or completely inadequate). Why? Because criminals are too stupid and too cheap to invest in quality firearms and training. As a result, if BLM/Antifa thugs try to storm a residential neighborhood or some small town in the South, they might be “greeted” by a lot of very competent firepower.

I think that it is pretty clear that the US deep state and the Dem Party are using BLM/Antifa as footsoldiers to create chaos and prepare for even worse violence should Trump win. There are also some signs that the Dem leadership does not want to let the (totally senile) Joe Biden go against Trump in a debate. Here is an excerpt from a ZeroHedge report:

I don’t think that there should be any debates,” Pelosi said on Thursday, one day after President Trump demanded Biden take a drug test before the two square off. “I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him – nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States,” she added. Pelosi said that Trump was “disgraceful” when he ‘stalked‘ Hillary Clinton during the 2016 debate by walking near her, and that he will probably “act in a way that is beneath the dignity of the presidency.”

The message is clear: we do not recognize Trump as a legitimate opponent and should he win, this will be because of Chinese interference and/or and Russian interference and/or “Republican bullying” (whatever that is supposed to mean). Bottom line: we will under no circumstances accept another defeat.

Dunno about you, but to me this sounds like sedition. Here is how Wikipedia defines this concept:

Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or resistance against, established authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel. A seditionist is one who engages in or promotes the interest of sedition.

I don’t see any evidence that Trump and/or the GOP leadership are guilty of sedition, at least not inside their own country – outside, of course, they are currently the single most subversive force on the planet. In fact, I would argue that in spite of all the many major differences, Trump is facing a situation not dissimilar to what Lukashenko faces in Belarus. The biggest difference is that Trump is not backed by Putin. In fact, he is backed by nobody (besides bone fide nutcases like Jair Bolsonaro and Ivan Duque Marquez or cheap prostitutes like Andrzej Duda or Dalia Grybauskaite).

I do see overwhelming evidence that the Clinton Gang & the US deep state & (pseudo-) “liberal” “elites” are all guilty of sedition. As a result of this egging on of rioting thugs, things happen which would have been quite unthinkable just a year ago.

For example: a US Senator and his wife almost got lynched by a mob just outside the White House. Is that even possible? Yes it is, see for yourself:

Friends, this is not Afghanistan or the Central African Republic. And a senator is one of the highest possible offices any man or woman can achieve. Yet in this country capital city, right outside the White House, cops were unable to protect a senator from a mob. Yet this is how the mainstream media presented this: “Protesters confront Rand Paul outside White House after Republican convention“. Since when are criminal thugs who attempt to lynch a senator and his wife called “protesters”?! And does “confront” not suggest that Senator Paul somehow deserved to be “confronted”.

Can you imagine what the media would have said if this had happened to a black senator?

Does this kind of mainstream “reporting” not show that this country’s political system is collapsing?

Conclusion

I don’t see a civil war happening in the US. But I do think that this country can, and probably will, break-up into different zones so to speak. In some regions, law and order will be maintained, by force is needed, while in others something new will appear: what the French call “des zones de non-droit“, meaning “areas of lawlessness” in which law enforcement will be absent (either because the political leaders will refuse to engage them, or because they will simply have to withdraw under fire). Typically, such zones have a parallel “black” economy which can make the gangs which control such zones very wealthy (think of Russia in the 1990s). Eventually, a lot of people will flee from such zones and seek refuge in the safer areas of the country (this process has already begun in New York).

Right now, there are a little over two months before the election, and I think that it is safe to say that the situation will deteriorate even faster and much worse. By November 2nd the country will be “ready” (so to speak) for a massive explosion of violence followed by months of chaos.

Many will probably vote Trump just because they will (mistakenly) believe that he is the only politician who will stand against what the Dems promise to unleash against the majority of “deplorables” who want to keep their country and traditions. At the core, the conflict we are now witnessing is a conflict about identity, something which most people deeply care about. Sooner or later, there will be push-back against the Dems attempt to turn the USA into some kind of obese transgender liberal Wakanda run by crooks, freaks and thugs.

The Dems won’t get their civil war – but they will suffer the blowback for their attempts to destroy the United States.


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

فتّش عن المستفيد لتتعرّف على المجرم

د. جمال شهاب المحسن

ما صدر مؤخّراً بشأن اغتيال رئيس الوزراء اللبناني الأسبق رفيق الحريري عن المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بلبنان التي نشأت خارجَ الأصول الوطنية السيادية اللبنانية والقوانين الدولية ولم يفاوضْ بشأنها رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية ولم يصادقْ عليها مجلس النواب في خرقٍ فاضحٍ للدستور اللبناني، وبعد تنصّلِها من صلاحيتها في ملاحقة الشهود الزور واعتمادها على «أدلة ظرفية» قاصرة وغير ذات قيمة ثبوتية من خلال الاتصالات «الهاتفية المتزامنة» دون معرفة مضامينها وما دار فيها كأحد ركائز التحقيق والمحكمة والحكم والتي لا ترقى الى مستوى القرينة والدليل الفعلي، لا يُنتظر من هذه المحكمة إحقاقُ الحق ولا إقامةُ العدل.. وهنا لا بدَّ من التساؤل عن غياب وتغييب كلّ الفرضيات والحقائق والشواهد في مسار التحقيق الدولي والمحكمة الدولية منذ خمسة عشر عاماً التي تؤدي إلى توجيه أصابع الاتهام للكيان الصهيوني الإرهابي المجرم والولايات المتحدة الأميركية وأدواتهما المستفيدين الحقيقيين من الانقلاب السياسي والإعلامي والأمني الذي حصل في لبنان بعد اغتيال الحريري، وهذا يأخذُنا مباشرةً الى موضوع تضليل التحقيق الدولي والشهود الزور الذين ضلّلوا التحقيق ضمن خطةٍ مصمّمةٍ لذلك لاتهام سورية وحزب الله والضباط الأربعة وإبعاد التهمة عن المستفيدين الحقيقيين من عملية الاغتيال.

قبل سنوات صدر كتاب بعنوان: «النفاق الأميركي» لمؤلّفه عمران أدهم الوثيق الصلة بالأميركيين، سلِّط فيه الضوءَ على كثيرٍ من المخططات الأميركية في «الشرق الأوسط» وفي العالم، وأخطر ما فيه هو أنّ الولايات المتحدة الأميركية و»إسرائيل» كانتا وراء اغتيال رئيس الوزراء اللبناني رفيق الحريري. ويتضمّن الكتاب شهادات يقول المؤلف إنها نُقلت إليه شخصياً من أصحابها الذين كانوا مسؤولين كباراً في المخابرات الأميركية ويوردُ أسماءهم الصريحة، ويؤكد في الوقت نفسه أنه يملك ما يوثِّق هذه الإفادات وهو مستعدٌّ لعرضها إذا لزم الأمر، إذ يقول حرفياً: «إنني أحتفظ بعناية بالمستندات التي رفدتني بالمعلومات والأسرار الكبيرة والصغيرة وأنا على استعداد كامل للكشف عنها إذا لزم الأمر» ص 78.

ويتابع : يقول «جون بيركنز، أحد كبار المسؤولين في المخابرات المركزية الأميركية (قبل تقاعده)، روى لي القصة كاملة وأنقل وقائعها على لسانه حيث قال: «المسؤول عن موكب الحريري كان يعرف جيداً الساعة الصفر، ولأنه كان يعرف، فقد امتنع عن مرافقته عندما كان يستعدّ للانتقال من مجلس النواب إلى دارته في قريطم، بل إنه هو الذي أشار على الموكب بسلوك الطريق البحري في طريق العودة». مضيفاً: «إنّ الأقمار الأميركية والإسرائيلية صوّرت عملية الاغتيال، إضافةً إلى طائرة هليكوبتر إسرائيلية كانت في الجو في محاذاة الشاطئ اللبناني وكانت تراقب سير العملية، وقد رفضت الإدارة الأميركية أن تتولى لجنة تحقيق لبنانية التحقيق في العملية.. وفي تلفيق التهم، تمّ اختيار المحقق الألماني ديتليف ميليس كي يرأس لجنة تحقيق دولية ووافق على تشكيلها الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة كوفي أنان». ص 80 .

ويضيف أيضاً: «وبالمناسبة، أقول (والكلام لبيركنز) إنّ سيارة الحريري كانت مزوّدةً بأجهزة رصد تقنية متقدّمة لا تستطيع أيّ دولة ـ باستثناء الولايات المتحدة الأميركية و»إسرائيل» ـ تعطيلها. كذلك، مهمة التعطيل هذه أوكلت إلى الباخرة الإسرائيلية التي كانت ترابط على حدود المياه الإقليمية اللبنانية تساندها من الجو طائرة أواكس أميركية وهليكوبتر إسرائيلية». ص 81.

ثم يقول في الصفحة 84: «أعود إلى اغتيال الحريري، على لسان بيركنز إيّاه، لأتوقّف عند ما قاله المحقق السويدي في طاقم المحكمة الدولية «بو أستروم»، وهو كبير المحققين ونائب رئيس فريق التحقيق، من أن الإسرائيليين والأميركيين رفضوا تزويد التحقيق بالصور التي التقطتها الأقمار مما يحمل دلالات مهمة على أن واشنطن لا تريد الإسهام في كشف الحقيقة. لقد اكتفت الحكومة الأميركية بالقول إن مشاكل تقنية حصلت خلال فترة إغتيال الحريري. ولهذا السبب، لم نحصل على أي معلومات حيوية ولعلّ الأمر مجرد سياسة.

ثم يتوقّفُ صاحب الكتاب أمام إفادة لمسؤول سابق آخر في المخابرات المركزية الأميركية هو «دافيد وين» الذي يصفه بأنه كان مسؤولاً طوال ثماني سنوات على امتداد الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا حتى آخر أيار 2014، فيروي التالي:

قال لي «وين» إنّ أسباباً عدة تجمّعت وأدّت في النهاية إلى اتخاذ القرار . وأبرز هذه الأسباب اقتناع إسرائيل بأن الحريري شخصية عربية قوية تتمتع بحضور مؤثّر على المستويين الإقليمي والدولي، كما أنّ هذا الرجل نسَج شبكة علاقات بالغة الأهمية، عربياً وأوروبياً وأميركياً، وظّفها في مساندة المقاومة ومساندة سوريا، كما وظّفها في خدمة لبنان وتعزيز دوره المالي والإقتصادي كقطبٍ جاذبٍ للرساميل والاستثمارات الخليجية، وما حصل عقب الإكتشافات النفطية الأخيرة، أنّ لجنة أمنية ـ سياسية نبّهت الحكومة الإسرائيلية إلى أنّ وجود الحريري في الحكم سوف يتسبّب بمتاعب لـ «إسرائيل»، خصوصاً في عملية ترسيم الحدود بين قبرص ولبنان، الأمر الذي يضع الدولة العبرية أمام ما يشبه «الأمر الواقع» في ما يتعلق بحجم ثروتها النفطية والغازية».

وقد ورد في التقرير بالحرف الواحد: لا بدّ من التخلص من هذا الرجل، لأنّ تطلعاته وطموحاته لا تنسجمان مع تطلعاتنا وطموحاتنا ونظرتنا إلى مستقبل المنطقة ودور «إسرائيل» في المدى الإقليمي.

وطوال أسابيع عدة، كان رئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي يتشاور مع القيادات الأمنية في الصيغة الفضلى لتصفية الحريري من دون إلحاق الضرر بـ «إسرائيل». وبعد مداولات طالت، استقرَّ الرأي على اغتيال الرجل في بلد أوروبي أو عربي، لكن خبراء «الموساد» رفضوا هذا التوجه لأنه قد يرتّب عواقب وخيمة على «إسرائيل».

هنا اقترح رئيس الوزراء «أرييل شارون» استبدال كلّ الخطط الموضوعة بخطة تقضي بتنفيذ العملية داخل بيروت وبذلك تصيب «إسرائيل» عصفورين بحجر واحد: التخلص من الرجل والتأسيس لصراع داخلي طويل في لبنان بين أنصار الحريري من جهة ومؤيدي سورية وحزب الله من جهة أخرى، ما يؤدي إلى إنسحاب القوات السورية في نهاية المطاف ومَذْهَبَة الصراع السياسي الداخلي . ص87.

أردتُ من استحضار ما ورد في الكتاب المذكور، أن أشير الى أنه يتقاطع مع تقارير استقصائية ومعلومات استخبارية أعلن عنها العديد من المتابعين والإعلاميين والخبراء.

وفي مثل هذه الجرائم، فتش عن المستفيد لتتعرّف على المجرم، وهذا ما لم تفعله، لا لجنة التحقيق الدولية التي استعانت بالشهود الزور والروايات المضللة، ولا المحكمة الدولية التي وُلدت ميتة في قضيتي الحق والعدالة وفي سياق الابتزاز: إمّا الإستجابة للطلبات الأميركية وهذا مستحيلٌ عند الأحرار المقاومين في سورية ولبنان، وإمّا أن تواجه «سيف» المحكمة والمسرحيات الإعلامية الدعائية المسمومة التي تريد تزوير الحقائق وقلبها والتلاعب فيها.. وهنا نتذكّر شهادة السفير الأميركي الأسبق في لبنان جيفري فيلتمان أمام الكونغرس الأميركي في الثامن من حزيران عام 2010، حيث اعترف بأن الإدارة الأميركية قدّمت منذ عام 2006، أكثر من 500 مليون دولار أميركي عبر الوكالة الأميركية للتنمية ومبادرة الشراكة الشرق ـــــ أوسطية لتشويه حزب الله، وشدّد على أنّ العنوان الأساسي لهذه الأموال: «الحدّ من جاذبية حزب الله لدى الشباب اللبناني».. وطبعاً هناك مَن يدفع كالأميركي وغيره ومَن يقبض تحت مسمّيات وجمعيات وأقنعة سياسية وإعلامية و»مدنية» مختلفة.. ولكن كلّ هذا التآمر والتشويش المعادي لن يؤثّر على محور المقاومة المنتصر.

إعلامي وباحث في علم الإجتماع السياسي


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

’Israel’ Must Forget 14 Years of ’Peace’ in the North – The Horror of Waiting: ‘Israel’ Watchful, Pending Hezbollah’s Retaliation

 Hezbollah Unchallengeable, ’Israel’ Must Forget 14 Years of ’Peace’ in the North - Alon Ben-David

By Staff

‘Israeli’ Military analyst Alon Ben-David wrote for Hebrew-language Maariv daily:

The echoes of the huge explosion in Beirut that was felt as far as Cyprus faded quickly, and as the smoke faded, the sad truth in Lebanon is revealed once again: There is no force in this country that can challenge Hezbollah.

[Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan] Nasrallah does not intend to abandon his retaliatory attack, and at the same time, he is keeping the “Israeli” army on alert in the north, or as he calls it – “standing on a foot and a half.”

The ‘Israeli’ military commentator admitted that there is no longer place for patrols along the border fence, outposts, or headquarters that aren’t exposed to anti-tank fire.

“Israel” must understand that perhaps 14 years of ‘peace’ in the north have come to an end, Ben-David added.

He further underscored that there were those in “Israel” who mistakenly thought that the effect of the blast in Beirut would curb Hezbollah and might shake Nasrallah’s chair. In practice, the opposite happened.

The Horror of Waiting: ‘Israel’ Watchful, Pending Hezbollah’s Retaliation

The Horror of Waiting: ‘Israel’ Watchful, Pending Hezbollah’s Retaliation

Islam Times – Citing a report by ‘Israeli’ Walla! news website on what has been taking place lately on the Lebanese-Palestinian borders, it has been confirmed that the Zionist military has increased it ground and aerial troops, and boosted intelligence as part of preparedness for all scenarios from the sea to the Sheikh [Hermon] Mountain.The data further mentioned that Hezbollah will attempt to carry out an offensive along the Lebanese border, while noting that the ‘Israeli’ army’s response will be very difficult.

“Israeli” Army: State of Alert in the North will Last for Many Weeks
“Israeli” Army: State of Alert in the North will Last for Many Weeks

Relatively, despite increasing the number of troops, the ‘Israeli’ military command tended to avoid Hezbollah fire by limiting the direct appearance of its forces along the northern border of the occupied Palestinian territories.

In the same context, ‘Israeli’ Army spokesman confirmed earlier that the Zionist military establishment is preparing for several scenarios in the north, which include more operations carried out by Hezbollah.

The ‘Israeli’ army also confirmed, as cited by Hebrew Channel 13, that Hezbollah will keep up working until it carries out its retaliatory operation to the latest assassination of one of its fighters in Syria.

“The account with Hezbollah is still open in the north,” said ‘Israeli’ military analyst Yoav Limor, adding that “Hezbollah will work to retaliate.”

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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Poland Coordinates Protests in Minsk. Why Russia Needs Runet as an Information Shield

Video by REDUX, it was then posted by Bornaya Solyanka, a successor channel to PolitRussia which has been deleted from YouTube since shortly before August 20th.

Poland Coordinates Protests in Minsk. Why Russia Needs Runet as an Information Shield

Translated by Sasha and captioned by Leonya.

The events in Belorussia bring on more than thoughts about the brotherly country’s internal and external political problems. The shutting down of the Internet over there and the phenomenon of the Telegram channel ‘Nexta’ (Belorussian word for ‘Someone’) make worth an examination of the informational aspect of such a thing as a street protest, particularly in view of the fact that in the era of Internet it is the information which brings people into the streets.

The rally and street protest as a sable form of the public city protest ritual have been considerably transformed under influence of the Internet and social networks. The methods for political mobilization and protest preparation have also changed with the appearance of the so-called new media. The key issue of these methods is naturally the conversion rate, the transformation of a social network reader and user into an active participant of a protest action in the street. The crux is that users can express their discontent at will and on mass in the social networks. But this does not result in people coming out into the streets. The thing is that joining the protests is practically always an emotionally rather than rationally validated action for an ordinary participant. Initially, according to sociologists, the propaganda is always directed to the young generation. The organizers play on the youths’ need to raise the self evaluation and to experience new emotions.

“The youth in any society is the most protest prone electorate,” explains sociologist, the director of the Enterprise group of the Sociology Institute, Maria Fil. “A generational conflict takes place here because the authorities are associated with a certain domineering of the older generation who allegedly are imposing their rules of play, the order of behaviour. In a wider sense it is the fathers and sons problem. The young want to announce themselves, want to have more opportunities and it seems to them that those opportunities are not as freely available as they would be, should the authorities be replaced. The opposition leaders arm themselves with an image of a modern advanced person.” Additionally it is important to evoke within a protester strong negative emotions. So the principal supporting factor for people’s emotions that make them come out in the streets can be the visuals of dispersing of rallies, when the security forces pound the protestors. After all it is a strong source for outrage. And the more such videos appear, the stronger probabilityfor those people appearing in the square who previously were not sure they needed to act. The advantage that the protest organizers have against their opponents, the authorities, is obvious: in most cases it is impossible to determine whether the attacked were the genuine protesters as opposed to those who attacked the police themselves. Of course you can spend a few hours in order to find out these nuances. But this has no bearing whatsoever on the target audience. So all that is left in the viewer’s mind is the violence of the law enforcement against the civilians.

After the first dispersals and arrests dozens of videos will appear on the Internet, which will trigger the chain reaction. The entire anger stowed withing the society will blaze up from one match strike, whose role will be performed by the right photos and videos. In these conditions the decision to block the Internet does not appear to be so stupid. It becomes rather logical. This way the authorities can kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, the interaction on the Internet has a direct influence on the formulating the rules for behaviour during the protest and at the point of detention. The protests are prepared on the Internet, there the problem is discussed, supporters are recruited. And next, when the protest moves into the street, the crowd’s movements are coordinated through the Internet. This means the demonstrators must be deprived of this possibility to coordinate their actions. But, as I said earlier, it is even more important for the authorities to deprive the protest of the new energy, which can be created by the same videos of protest dispersals and beatings. In this light, the situation in which Belorussia found itself is very interesting, when the country blocked everything it could, even to the detriment of its own economy, but was unable to block the Telegram with Nexta within it. The Belorussian authorities faced a completely new problem here, for whose solution they did not prepare in advance. Possibly they did not even suspect its existence. This problem can be briefly described as a punctured informational shield. In other words, to attempt blocking the social networks and fail at it is more effective than not trying to turn off anything.

According to the preliminary assessments the modest republic’s economy was losing up to $56 million a day. But this is not as bad as the informational vacuum which the authorities created with their own hands and which was filled by the oppositional channel ‘Nexta’, whose creators, the way, live in Poland by the way, and which gained almost 2 million subscribers in a couple of days, having become, in fact, the principle coordinator of the protests and the largest Russian language political Telegram channel. Compare: the popular and quite reputable channel “Nezygar’” has merely 348 thousand subscribers, which used to seem a huge number. Aleksei Navalny has only 176 thousand subscribers to his Telegram channel. I will not analyze the ‘Nexta’ channel in the context of Belorussian protests. I am more interested in something different. Everything points at the fact that a new anti-Russian media giant appeared under our noses, which, in addition to everything else, is practically out of range for the Russian law enforcement system. There should be no doubt in the Russophobic nature of the newly born Russian-language Polish media source. The channel simply gleams with outward Russophobia and a few times it transmitted fakes, one of which was the post about the ‘Russian spetsnaz’ beating up ordinary Belorussians. Have a look.

Besides this channel’s posts are soaked with calls for radicalization of the protest. Interesting are the personalities who created the channel. For instance the chief editor of ‘Nexta’ is Roman Protasevich, who used to work for the American ‘Radio Freedom’ and for the Lithuanian-Polish ‘Euro Radio’. The problem is that if some protests start in the territory of the Russian Federation, that channel will be able to easily tell the protesters what and how they should do all the way from Poland. And if the comrades from ‘Nexta’ calls for throwing Molotov cocktails into the law enforcement forces or shoot at them with fireworks, ‘Nexta’ could not be held into account. They are in Poland. Out of reach. In this hypothetical situation ‘Nexta’, calling for the protest radicalization, will not be acting in the people’s interest. Because this would cause casualties among both the law enforcement forces and among the protesters, and would bring to naught any possible concessions on behalf of the authorities, which would be quite possible in the case of a peaceful protest. As is the case in Khabarovsk, where there have been no dispersals of rallies, nor forceful detentions, nor beatings of citizens. On the contrary, the clerk in the rank of Prime Minister visited the region for the first time in thirteen years. Prior to Mishustin, it was Fratkov who visited the region in the remote year of 2007. All that time the leaders of the country demonstrated their attention to the region’s problems only from a distance. This illustrates perfectly the role of peaceful protests in Khabarovsk in the transformation of the Center’s attitude towards the entire Far East.

Russia should be thinking today how it should behave when the described above situation appears here. Because pinpoint strikes against particular agitators inside the country would be useless. Because the entire coordination of actions and the feeding the ever renewed videos and photos of beaten up teenagers to the undecided will be directed from abroad. Yes, Russia can repeat the mistake of Belorussian authorities and try to cover herself with a punctured informational shield. But here, it seems to me, the real help to Russia could be rendered by the sovereign Runet, of which there was so much talk some time ago. For instance, the Telegram channel ‘On Duty in Iran’ draws the example of the last year’s protests in Iran. This is what it says: “The Belorussian protests reminded me of the demonstrations in Iran back in November which was lucky to witness… the Iranian way of neutralizing the protest threat looks a lot more successful (than the Belorussian one). They didn’t just turn off the Internet within 24 hours, but launched the ‘national internet’, which meant that a widen local service remained: the state media sites continued working, so did banking systems, food deliveries and taxis, ticket sales – practically everything in the .Irzone, but no social networks, no messengers, youtubes or even email. The ‘national internet’ was prepared for almost two years but the result turned out impressive: it was practically impossible to bypass the blocking, while the basic infrastructure kept working. It is an extremely effective short term measure.”

This way, in case of events developing according to earlier described scenario, the sovereign Runet would help to prevent bloodshed and keep the protest within the peaceful framework, without causing damage to the country’s economy. Yes, technical questions arise as well as the danger of misuse of the instrument by the authorities. However the Kremlin and Russian society still have enough time to reach a compromise, having created a powerful shield against the external resources like ‘Nexta’, which, besides its role described above, could be used first and foremost for protection of important infrastructure of the country from cyber attacks during the cyber war, which I covered in my previous video. This is all for today. Write your comments, rate this video, subscribe to the channel and to my group in VKontakte (the link is in the description to this video), and see you soon.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

لبنان بين المعادلة الخامسة أو الانفجار الكبير


 د.وفيق إبراهيم

ما يشهده لبنان لا مثيل له من ناحية عمق انهياره السياسي والاقتصادي.. ولا نظير له منذ تأسيس «لبنان الكبير» قبل قرن تقريباً.

هنا يجب الإقرار أن انهيارات اقتصادية وسياسية عديدة ضربت بلاد الأرز مرات عدة، وكان ينجو منها بحرص خارجي عليه، مع كمية قليلة من التمكن الداخلي.

إلا أن عيارات انهياره الحالي عميقة وبنيوية، وتتواكب مع تأزم العلاقات الدولية والعسكرية، وانتشار جائحة الكورونا على مستوى البشرية جمعاء، وما أدت إليه من شكل كبير وعميق في الاقتصادات العالمية.

فهل ينجح لبنان في اختراع هدنة سياسية تبتكر معادلة حكم داخلية، تحظى بتأييد الطوائف وموافقة الأطراف الإقليمية والدولية الراعية؟

هناك مفاصل لبنانية لا يُمكن تجاوزها وتشبه لعبة أحجية تحتاج إلى كثير من الدهاء لفك ألغازها.

الاولى ان لبنان بلد طوائفي، اقتنعت مكوناته بعد مئتي عام تقريباً من صراعاتها ان الحلول السياسية الراسخة لا يجب أن تستبعد أي مكوّن طائفي من معادلة الحكم.

فيما تذهب الثانية الى اختراع لبناني فريد من نوعه في العالم ويتعلق بضرورة تمثيل القوى الأكبر في طوائفها، في معادلة الحكم أي الحكومة ورئاستي الجمهورية ومجلس النواب.

ضمن هذين الشرطين تسرح ثماني عشرة طائفة لبنانية في دول الإقليم والخارج لتأمين حماياتها بين دول لها مصالح في الشرق الأوسط… وسرعان ما نجد الأميركي والفرنسي والروسي والسعودي والإيراني والتركي في أحياء بيروت ومناطقها وبيوتاتها السياسية، فيما تجوب بوارجهم مياه المتوسط اللبناني وتخترق طائرات العدو الاسرائيلي أجواء بلاد الأرز يومياً.

فكيف يمكن إنتاج معادلة حكم لبنانية إذا كانت العلاقات الاقليمية والدولية متفجرة الى درجة الاحتراب الفعلي، وتحاول قوى الطوائف مضاعفة حصصها في الحكومة الجديدة عبر استثمار علاقاتها بالخارج.

وكيف يتنازل مَن يمتلك أكثرية نيابية عن رجحان كفته في التحاصص الحكومي قانعاً بالمساواة الوزارية مع الخاسرين.

وهل يصدق أحد أن الخاسرين يطبقون خططاً خارجية لمحاصرة حزب الله وتجريده من سلاحه، مقابل أن يشكلوا أكثرية مزيفة في حكومات مقابلة؟

لذلك فإن ابتكار معادلة حكم لمجلس وزراء لبناني جديد، تبدو مستحيلة وقابلة للإرجاء حتى موعد بعيد.

فكيف يمكن ان نجمع بين الممثلين الأقوى لثماني عشرة طائفة وتأييد قوى الخارج والاقليم في هدنة تضم الاميركيين ومعهم بالطبع السعوديين والفرنسيين من جهة الى جانب الإيرانيين والسوريين من جهة أخرى.

فوضعية كهذه تحتاج الى مساحات هدنة أكبر من لبنان، وهذه ليست موجودة حالياً لأن التراجع الاميركي في الإقليم انقلب مشروعاً اميركياً بالهجوم على حزب الله في لبنان وتشديد الحصار على إيران وسورية واليمن..

نحن إذاً وسط هجوم اميركي مضاد، يريد اعادة تأسيس موازنات قوى إقليمية لمصلحته. ولن يوقفه إلا بعد يأسه من إمكانية تحقيق اهدافه، او انجازه لأي نصر مهما كان باهتاً.

انما ما هي المعادلات الاربع التي اجتازها لبنان في المراحل الماضية وعكست مهادنات بين قواه الطائفية.

هناك أربع معادلات ابتدأت مع تأسيس الدولة اللبنانية في 1948 على اساس هيمنة مارونية كاملة مع وجود سطحي للطوائف الأخرى.. وتلتها معادلة 1958 التي عكست تسوية اميركية مصرية جاءت بفؤاد شهاب الماروني رئيساً للبنان على اساس تحسن طفيف في وضعية رئيس الحكومة السني.

اما التسوية الثالثة فهي الطائف في 1989 التي غطتها السعودية بالاتفاق مع الاميركيين والسوريين، واصبح فيها النفوذ السني أساسياً بمشاركة مارونية.

إلا أن معادلة 2006 في اتفاق الدوحة في قطر قضت على المعادلات السابقة، وشكلت حكماً بثلاث إدارات شيعية ومارونية وسنية، أوصلت لبنان الى بلد مفلس يتعرض لأعنف انهيار اقتصادي وسياسي يمكن لبلد بحجم لبنان أن يتحمله.

لذلك فإن تدخلاً اقليمياً دولياً يحاول بالاشتراك مع الطوائف الثلاث الاساسية أي الشيعة والسنة والموارنة تشكيل حكومة جديدة.

من جهة الفرنسيين فانهم يبذلون جهوداً خارجية وداخلية، لإنتاج حكومة لبنانية جديدة، لكن هذه الجهود تحتاج الى معادلة تحتوي على موافقة ست دول إقليمية ودولية متناقضة على كل شيء تقريباً.

والاحزاب الأقوى عند السنة والموارنة والشيعة والارثوذوكس والكاثوليك والدروز والأرمن. هناك أيضاً قطبة مخفية وتتجسد في الحلف الاميركي ـ السعودي الذي أصدر كما يبدو فرماناً بمنع تشكيل حكومة في الوقت الحاضر.

ويراهن على تقليص التأييد الشعبي لحزب الله من خلال اشتداد حمى الأزمة الاقتصادية، ما يجعل الدولة ترضخ للشروط الاميركية في اقتسام آبار النفط اللبنانية مع الكيان الإسرائيلي المحتل، واقفال حدود لبنان مع سورية خصوصاً لجهة المعابر التي يستخدمها حزب الله في حركته الإقليمية.

فهل بالإمكان إنتاج معادلة حكم لبنان في ظل هذا الارهاب الاميركي المتصاعد؟ وكيف يمكن للمطالبين بحياد لبنان من القوى الداخلية والاقليمية والدولية أن يواصلوا رفع شعار الحياد وهم يرون الاعتداءات الاسرائيلية على جنوب لبنان والاختراق الجوي الاسرائيلي اليومي لاجواء لبنان؟

هناك طريقة واحدة لبناء معادلة حكم جديدة، وهي ذات بعدين: إما ان يرضخ لبنان سياسياً للضغط الاميركي وينتظر انفجاره تماماً، او تذهب الأكثرية النيابية فيه الى استشارات ملزمة، تؤدي الى تشكيل حكومة اكثرية، يكون الانفتاح على الصين وروسيا والعراق وإيران من اولوياتها وبهدف وحيد، وهو الحيلولة دون انفجار الدولة الذي يؤدي تلقائياً الى تصديع الكيان السياسي اللبناني على الطريقة التي قال فيها وزير الخارجية الأميركي السابق ان لبنان خطأ تاريخي بوسعه إيجاد حلول لتوطين الفلسطينيين وبعض السوريين مع تهجير المسيحيين الى الغرب، وهذا ما يريده اللبنانيون جميعاً.


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in Palestine (29 July – 12 August 2020)

Weekly Reports – Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

Israeli Violations of Human Rights

29 July – 12 August 2020

  • Palestinian woman killed and 19 civilians, including 2 paramedics, shot and wounded, in IOF excessive use of force:
    • 9 injuries were documented in IOF suppression of Kufuor Qaddoum, Qalqilya protests;
    • 7 injured, including 2 paramedics, in IOF suppression of a protest in Tarmesi’yah; and
    • 2 other injuries in Nablus and Tulkarm.
  • 23 shootings reported at agricultural land; and twice s at fishing boats eastern and western Gaza Strip;
  • In 176 IOF incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem: 160 civilians arrested, including 9 children and 4 women;
  • IOF harden closure restrictions over the Gaza Strip, as its sole commercial crossing is closed, and the fishing area is reduced to 8 nautical miles;
  • IOF warplanes strike Gaza Strip;
  • 11 houses demolished, including 7 self-demolished, in occupied East Jerusalem; multiple demolition and cease-construction notices served in the West Bank;
  • 4 construction vehicles and 3 water pumps confiscated, and agricultural lands confiscated, and others razed in the West Bank;
  • Settler-attacks in the West Bank: 3 siblings, a woman and 2 children, wounded in Hebron and arsenal attacks on 2 vehicles in Qalqilya;
  • IOF established 57 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank and arrested 15 Palestinians on said checkpoints

Summary

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to commit crimes and multi-layered violations against Palestinian civilians and their properties, including raids into Palestinian cities that are characterized with excessive use of force, assault, abuse and attacks on civilians. IOF did not restrict its attacks during the days Palestinian Muslims celebrated Eid al-Adha holiday. During the reporting period, IOF killed a Palestinian woman and wounded 19 others across the West Bank. PCHR asserts that IOF used lethal force when they withdrew from the area without the presence of any threat or danger to soldiers’ lives. This falls within the shoot first and justify later policy that IOF have consistently implemented against Palestinian civilians. Furthermore, IOF warplanes launched several airstrikes against the Gaza Strip, while they mainly bombarded agricultural lands that did not render human loss, the airstrikes terrorized and frightened the civilian population in targeted areas.

Ever since announcing its plans to annex West Bank territories, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF has continued systematic demolitions and land razing, establishing roads for settlements in an accelerated manner. The past two weeks witnessed widescale demolitions of houses and agricultural lands in the West Bank.

This week, PCHR documented 303 violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL) by IOF and settlers in the oPt. It should be noted that the limitations due to the corona virus pandemic, including closure of certain territories, has limited PCHR’s fieldworkers mobility and ability to conduct field documentation; therefore, the information documented in this report are only part of the continued IOF violations.

IOF shooting and violation of right to bodily integrity: On 07 August 2020, IOF killed Dalia Ahmed Suliman Stiti (24) with a live bullet that hit her chest as she was shutting her window in Jenin, northern West Bank. Furthermore, IOF shot and wounded 19 Palestinians: 9 injured in excessive use of force against the weekly peaceful protest in Kufuor Qaddoum in Qalqilya; 7 others in IOF suppression of a protest in Tarmesi’yah, northern Ramallah, including 2 paramedics. Two others were wounded in separate incidents: a Palestinian was shot and wounded as IOF shot him directly before his arrest in Nablus; and another was shot during a shooting near the Annexation Wall in Tulkarm.

In Gaza, IOF opened fire at agricultural lands 23 times and twice at fishing boats in eastern ang western Gaza Strip. IOF warplanes also launched several airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians: IOF carried out 176 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids of civilian houses and shootings, enticing fear among civilians, and attacking many of them. During this week’s incursions, 160 Palestinians were arrested, including 9 children and 4 women. IOF also conducted two limited incursions into eastern Khan Younis and northern Gaza Strip.

Settlement expansion activities and settlers’ attacks: IOF continued its settlement expansion operations in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, PCHR documented 33 violations, including:

  • East Jerusalem: agricultural room demolished, as well as 11 houses, including 7 self-demolished;
  • Bethlehem: cease-construction notices served to 2 houses and 100 olive tree seedlings uprooted;
  • Hebron: demolition of a wall and a 100 sqm floor; also, a tin-plated brick home demolished; 3 water pumps confiscated; military watchtower established on Palestinian civilians’ lands; tent and barn demolished;
  • Northern Valley: 2 tractors confiscated; and demolition notices served to several houses and facilities;
  • Jenin: 9 cease-construction and demolition notices served to over 200 years old buildings and caves; and other facilities, new housing buildings and water tanks;
  • Salfit: 15 dunums of agricultural lands owned by Palestinians confiscated; and 18 cease-construction notices served to 7 houses, including 3 under-construction, an agricultural room, a plastic house and land rehabilitation;
  • Ramallah: excavator confiscated in eastern Ramallah; two agricultural facilities demolished;
  • Tubas: excavator confiscated;
  • Jericho: approximately 100 palm tree seedlings razed and uprooted;
  • Kisan village: over 200 dunums of the village’s lands confiscated;
  • Qalqilya: agricultural lands razed as prelude to their confiscation in Kafr Thulth village, eastern Qalqilya.

PCHR also documented 4 settler attacks: 10 sheep dead in Ramallah; 3 siblings, a woman and 2 children, wounded and bruised in settlers’ attack on Tel Rumeida neighbourhood in central Hebron; 2 cars set on fire and a vehicle assaulted and its windshield broken in Nablus.

Israeli closure policy and restrictions on freedom of movement:

On Monday, 10 August 2020, Israeli authorities  announced the closure of Karm Abu Salem crossing starting from Tuesday, 11 August 2020 and until further notice, except for the transportation of goods for vital humanitarian cases and fuel. According to Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the decision was taken “in response to the launch of incendiary balloons and breaching security calm.” On Wednesday evening, 12 August 2020, IOF announced reducing the Gaza Strip’s fishing area from 15 to 8 nautical miles.

This decision falls under the framework of the complete, illegal and unhumanitarian closure policy imposed by the Israeli authorities on the Gaza Strip since June 2007, as the  Gaza Strip crossings have witnessed tightened restrictions on the movement of goods and persons.

Meanwhile, IOF continued to divide the West Bank into separate cantons with key roads blocked by the Israeli occupation since the Second Intifada and with temporary and permanent checkpoints, where civilian movement is restricted, and they are subject to arrest.

  1. Violation of the right to life and to bodily integrity
  1. Shooting and other violations of the right to life and bodily integrity
  • At approximately 09:30 on Wednesday, 29 July 2020, Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence , east of al-Maghazi in the central Gaza Strip, opened fire at agricultural lands. The shooting continued sporadically for 15 minutes. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 10:00 on Thursday, 30 July 2020, Israeli soldiers stationed  along the border fence, northeast of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, opened fire at agricultural lands. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 13:00 on Friday, 31 July 2020, IOF stationed at the northern entrance established on lands of Kafer Qaddoum village, north of Qalqilya, suppressed a protest in which dozens of civilians participated. IOF chased Palestinian young men who gathered in the area, clashed with them and fired rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters. As a result, 7 civilians were shot with rubber bullets throughout their bodies.
  • At approximately 00:10 on Sunday, 02 August 2020, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets at agricultural lands, east of al-Qararah village, adjacent to the border fence. The shooting recurred twice at 16:20 and 21:20 on the same day, east of Khuza’ah village. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 00:20 on Monday 03 August 2020, Israeli gunboats stationed adjacent to Khan Younis shore, opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats sailing within the allowed fishing area. Fishermen, as a result of that, panicked and ad to sail back to the shore, fearing for their lives. No casualties were reported.
  • After 20 minutes, an Israeli military warplane launched 2 missiles at an agricultural land in al-Qrarah village, northeast of Khan Younis. The attack caused a large hole in the land. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 02:20 on the same Monday, IOF stormed al-‘Aqrabaniyah village, northeast of Nablus, north of the West Bank. They surrounded Abdul Rahman Husni Husein Jbarah’s (23) house. Jbarah managed to leave the house before IOF, who claim that he is wanted for them,  raided it. IOF chased Jbarah, who was about 400 meters away from the house. They took over a civilian vehicle, and opened fire at him, wounding him while he was at the vehicle’s back chair. IOF  arrested Jbarah, who was wounded and bleeding from his face, taking him to an unknown destination, the vehicle’s windshield was shattered after the shooting, causing wounds to its driver, Abdullah Ammar “Mohammed Basem” al-Sha’ar (20), and his cousin Ezz Eden Amed “Mohammed Basem” al-Sha’ar (17), who was accompanying him, with minor wounds. IOF  arrested Abdullah and Ezz Eden al-Sha’ar and took them to a military camp, adjacent to al-Hamrah checkpoint. Al-Sha’ar civilians were interrogated about their relationships of Jbarah. IOF released al-Sha’ar civilians at 07:00 on the same day morning after ensuring that there is no relationship between them and Jbarah. Jbarah was wounded in his face and is health condition is serious. Jbarah was transferred to New Rehabilitation Hospital Tel HaShomer.
  • At approximately 23:30 on the same Monday, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets at agricultural lands, east of Khuza’ah village, adjacent to the border fence.
  • At approximately 04:00 on Tuesday, 04 August 2020, a large Israeli military force stormed Aqabet Jaber refugee camp, southwest of Jericho in the center of the West Bank. A number of Palestinian young men gathered in the vicinity of the camp and threw stones at Israeli soldiers while the later responded with a barrage of rubber bullets, sound bombs, and tear gas canisters. As a result, 2 civilias were shot with rubber bullets in their lower extremities. They were transferred to Jericho Hospital in the city for medical treatment. In the meantime, Israeli soldiers raided and searched several houses and arrested Ali Mohammed Raslan (26) and Ayman Hekmat al-Ewadat (57). In the evening hours, IOF released al-Ewadat.
  • At approximately 16:15 on the same Tuesday IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets at agricultural lands, east of Khuza’ah village, adjacent to the border fence. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 14:40 on Wednesday, 05 August 2020, Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence, east of al-Maghazi in the central Gaza Strip, opened fire at a group of Palestinian farmers. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 17:45 on the same Wednesday, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets at agricultural lands, east of Khuza’ah village, adjacent to the border fence. The shooting recurred in the same area at 21:00 on the same day evening. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 10:00 on Thursday, 06 August 2020, Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence, east of Gaza Valley (Juhor al-Deek), south of Gaza City, opened fire at agricultural lands. Neither casualties nor material damage were reported.
  • At approximately 19:30 on the same Thursday, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets at agricultural lands, east of Khuza’ah village. No casualties were reported.
  • In the early dawn hours on Friday, 07 August 2020, a Palestinian woman was killed by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) after being shot with a live bullet in her chest while closing the window in her house in Jenin, northern West Bank. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) points out that IOF used lethal force when they withdrew from the area without the presence of any threat or danger to soldiers’ lives. This falls within the shoot first and justify later policy that IOF have consistently implemented against Palestinian civilians.

According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 02:30 on Friday, IOF moved into al-Jabriyat neighborhood, southwest of Jenin, northern West Bank. They surrounded Khaled Suliman Abu Hasan’s house near al-Riyad School. IOF interrogated Abu Hasan inside his house until 04:00.  Five minutes later, while Israeli military vehicles were preparing to withdraw, IOF fired a sound bomb and several live bullets at Bassam Samodi’s 3-storey house. As a result, Samodi’s wife, Dalia Ahmed Suliman Stiti (24), was injured and shot with a live bullet in her chest, penetrating her liver, pancreas, and aorta.  Stiti’s family said to PCHR’s fieldworker that their daughter Dalia, a mother of two (9-month, 2 years), woke up after hearing IOF’s incursion into the village. She headed towards the living room’s window to close it after IOF fired a sound bomb. In the meantime, IOF stationed on the street, 50 meters away from Stiti’s house, opened fire at her on her 3rd floor apartment, wounding her in the chest. Stiti walked several steps and then fell to the living room floor in a pool of her blood. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS)’s crew, who were in the area to rescue the injuries, immediately arrived at the house and took Stiti to Dr. Khalil Suliman Hospital. Stiti was admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU), due to her critical health condition and she was pronounced dead at 14:30.

Ayman Mohammed Abu Qabilah (31), the ambulance diver who transferred Stiti, said that he heard a sound of a bomb explosion followed by 4 live bullets from the area where IOF stationed, 50 meters away from where he was present in front of Smoudi family’s house. After that Qabilah felt that the ambulance was targeted. In the meantime, he heard the residents screaming they had an injury in the house, so he rushed to the house along with other paramedics to find out that the injured civilian was Dalia Stiti and her injury was serious. The ambulance was also targeted with 2 live bullets; one of them penetrated from the left side to the paramedic’s chair; while the other bullet penetrated the driver’s chair.

  • At approximately 07:50 on Friday, 07 August 2020, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets and tear gas canisters at agricultural lands, east of al-Qararah village, adjacent to the border fence. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 13:00 on the same Friday, IOF stationed at the northern entrance established on lands of Kafer Qaddoum village, north of Qalqilya, suppressed a peaceful protest in which dozens of civilians participated. IOF chased young men who gathered in the area, clashed with them and fired rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at them. As a result, a civilian was shot with a rubber bullet in his thigh.
  • At approximately 13:30 on the same Friday, Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence, east of al-Buraij in the central Gaza Strip, opened fire at agricultural lands. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 14:00 on the same Friday, IOF suppressed a peaceful in Tarmesi’yah village, northeast of Ramallah in the center of the West Bank. The protest took off from the center of the village into its main entrance in protest against the Israeli settlement expansion in the area. IOF used excessive force injuring 7 civilians, including 2 paramedics:
  1. Hamzah Mohammed Ma’ali (27), paramedic at Al-Asmar Emergency Medical Service, was hit with a tear gas canister in his face.
  2. Mohammed Malash (29), paramedic at the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, was shot with a rubber bullet in his foot and a tear gas canister in his face. Other civilians sustained rubber bullets in their lower extremities.
  • At approximately 08:40 on Saturday, 08 August 2020, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets and tear gas canisters at agricultural lands, east of al-Fukhari, adjacent to the border fence. The shooting recurred at 17:30 in eastern Abasan village, east of Khan Younis. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 17:00 on the same Saturday, 08 August 2020, IOF stationed at the northern entrance established at lands of Kafer Qaddoum village, north of Qalqiliyah, suppressed a peaceful protest in which dozens of civilians participated. IOF chased young men who gathered in the area, clashed with them and fired rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at them. As a result, a 44-year-old civilian was shot with a rubber bullet in his back and a 22-year-old civilian was shot with a rubber bullet in his thigh.
  • At approximately 19:05, Israeli gunboats stationed northwest of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Strip, chased and sporadically opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats sailing within the allowed fishing area (at 3 nautical miles) and pumped water at them. Fishermen, as a result of that, panicked and had to sail back to the shore fearing for their lives. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 07:25 on Sunday, 09 August 2020, IOF stationed along the border fence, adjacent to Buret Abu Samrah, north of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Strip, opened fire at agricultural lands adjacent to the border fence. As a result, Palestinian farmers panicked and had to leave their lands fearing for their lives. Neither casualties nor material damage was reported.
  • At approximately 08:00 on the same Sunday, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets at agricultural lands, east of Khuza’ah village, adjacent to the border fence. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 00:20 on the same Sunday, Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence, east of al-Maghazi in the central Gaza Strip, opened fire at agricultural lands. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 22:50 on the same Sunday, Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence, east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, opened fire at agricultural lands for 15 minutes. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 08:30 on Monday, 10 August 2020, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets at agricultural lands, east of Khuza’ah village, adjacent to the border fence. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 08:30 on Tuesday, 11 August 2020, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Khan Younis, fired live bullets at agricultural lands, east of Khuza’ah and al-Fukhari villages, adjacent to the border fence. No casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 00:30 on the same Tuesday, IOF stationed at the annexation wall gates established on lands of Faroun village, south of Tulkarm, fired live bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at Palestinian civilians, who attempted to pass through the gate. As a result, a 24-year-old civilian, from Qifin village, north of Tulkarm, was shot with a rubber bullet in his right hand.
  • At approximately 18:15 on Wednesday, 12 August 2020, IOF stationed along the border fence, east of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip, sporadically opened fire at the border area, adjacent to the border fence. Neither casualties nor material damage was reported.
  1. Incursions and arrests:

Wednesday, 29 July 2020:

  • At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Hebron. They raided and searched several houses and arrested two civilians: Saleh Ayed al-Rajabi (33) and Nabeeh Nabil al-Sharbati (28).
  • At approximately 01:50, IOF moved into ‘Aseera al-Shamaleya village, north of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Hamza Abdullah Mohammed Yasine (26).
  • Around the same time, IOF moved into Talouza, northeast of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested three civilians; Fares Rasheed Hashayka (24), Mohammed Emad Hanajera (23), and Nabeel Kamel Dababseh (45).
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Murad Khaled al-Hayek (28) and Ahmed Salah al-Sar’awi (26) and arrested them.
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into ‘Anata village, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Khaleel Ahmed Hilwa and Mohammed Hasan Hilwa, and arrested them.
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Kherbet Makhoul village in the northern valleys, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Abdul Raheem Bsharat (55), and his son Sakher (25).
  • Around the same time, IOF moved into Tulkarm refugee camp, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched Ahmed Hasan Matrouk’s (48) house and arrested him.
  • Around the same time, IOF moved into Nour Shams refugee camp, in Tulkarm, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched Mahmoud Ahmed al-Izza’s (20) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into Wadi al-Joz neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Hanadi Mohammed al-Halawani’s (41) house and arrested her. After a few hours, IOF released her on condition of paying (1,000 NIS), and banning her entry to the occupied East Jerusalem for 3 weeks. It should be noted that al-Halawani is a former prisoner and she is a teacher who was banned from entering the Aqsa Mosque several times.
  • At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into al-Saf street, in the Central Bethlehem. They raided and searched Salah Awwad Jawarish’s (25) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 03:10, IOF moved into Nablus, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (5) civilians; Basem Ghassan al-‘Ataba (33), Alaa Mohammed al-Shubairy (36), Mo’ath Ahmed Mousa (29), Alaa (Mohammed Eyad) Fatayer (22), and Abbas Sulaiman (Mohammed kamal) Fatayer (37).
  • Around the same time, IOF moved into Askar refugee camp, northeast of Nablus, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Asem Anan Fawzi Bushkar (17), and his brother Isalm (21).
  • At approximately 04:00, IOF moved into Jabal Hendaza area, east of Bethlehem. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Mohammed Hasan Nawawera (30), and Salah Yousef al-‘Abayat (26), and arrested them.
  • At approximately 06:35, IOF reinforced with several military bulldozers, moved 100-meters to the east of ‘Abasan village, east of Khan Younis. They leveled and combed lands along the border fence before they redeployed.
  • At approximately 06:50, IOF stationed at Beit Fouriq military checkpoint, northeast of Nablus, north of the West Bank, arrested Foad Fawwaz Fawzi Hanani (25), from the village. IOF took him to an unknown destination.
  • At approximately 09:10, IOF stationed at ‘Awarta military checkpoint, southeast of Nablus, north of the West Bank, arrested Khaled Jamal Abu al-So’oud (17). IOF took him to an unknown destination.
  • In the morning hours, IOF stationed at Salem military court’s gate, west of Jenin, north of the West Bank, arrested Muhanna Khaled al-Sharqaqi (44), from al-Zababeda village, northeast of Jenin. IOF took him to an unknown destination.
  • At approximately 14:20, IOF moved into Kherbat al-Hadedeya in the northern valleys, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Ashraf Husain Busharat (40).
  • At approximately 17:00, IOF moved into Abu Mish’al neighborhood, northwest of Ramallah. They raided and searched three houses and arrested three civilians before they released them after three hours. The arrestees are: Mohammed Abdul Hafiz Zahran (23), Husain Hasan Zahran (26), and Samhan Abdul Salam Zahran (24).
  • IOF carried out (3) incursions in Rujeib village, southeast of Nablus; Dura and al-Thahereya, in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

Thursday, 30 July 2020:

  • At approximately 02:15, IOF moved into Rujeib village, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Dawoud Akram Rawajba (44).
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Nablus, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Isalem Majdi Qadah (17).
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into ‘Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron. They raided and searched Mus’ab Mohammed Kawamla’s (21) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 02:50, IOF moved into Tal village, southwest of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Waleed Jamal ‘Aseeda (23) and Mahmoud Musatafa ‘Aseeda (29).
  • At approximately 03:05, IOF moved into Salim village, northeast of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Mus’ab ‘Akef Shtayyeh (25) and Obaida Kamal Jabbour (28).
  • At approximately 04:00, IOF moved into Qalqilya. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Khaled Ali Swailem (22) and Abdul Haq Mazen Khadraj (22) and arrested them.
  • At approximately 04:00, IOF moved into Salfit. They raided and searched Abdul Rahim Tayseer Shaheen’s (25) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 10:00, IOF arrested two of the Aqsa Mosque’s guards, Mohannad al-Ansari (38) and Mohammad Zughaiar (32), while on duty at the mosque in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. IOF took them to al-Qishla police station in the city and released them after several hours on condition of banning their entry to the mosque for a week.
  • At approximately 18:00, IOF established a temporary military checkpoint on the entrance of Jet village, northeast of Qalqilya, and arrested Mus’ab Mousa Mir’ai (22), from Qarawat Bani Hasan, west of Salfit.
  • IOF carried out (4) incursions in Silat ad-Dhahr and Zububa villages in Jenin governorate, Hebron and Yatta in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

Friday, 31 July 2020:

  • IOF carried out (4) incursions in al-Thaheriya, al-Samoua’, and Deir Sammit villages in Hebron governorate, and Az-Zawiya village, west of Salfit. No arrests were reported.

Saturday, 01 August 2020:

  • At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Hebron. They raided and searched Omar Maher Obaid’s (35) house and arrested him.
  • IOF carried out (6) incursions in Rummana, Zububa and Ya’bad villages in Jenin governorate, Sa’eer, Mowreq, and Sourif in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

Sunday, 02 August 2020:

  • At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Ras al-‘Amoud neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched Omar Yaser Shwaiky’s (19) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 06:50, IOF moved into Ya’bad village, southwest of Jenin, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested three children; Islam Kamel Abu Shamala (17), Ahmed Yousef Abu Bakr (17), and Nabeel Na’el Abu Baker (17).
  • At approximately 11:00, IOF arrested Mohammed Sameer Najeeb (26) while present in al-Wad neighborhood, one of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City’s neighborhoods, and took him to al-Qishla police station. IOF released him after several hours on condition that banning his entry to the Aqsa Mosque for 6 months.
  • At approximately 15:30, IOF moved into al-Fureidis village, east of Bethlehem. They raided and searched Hazem Hashem Abu Muhaimed’s house and arrested him.
  • IOF carried out (5) incursions in Zububa village, west of Jenin; Sa’eer, Nouba, al-Hadab, and al-‘Aroub refugee camp in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

Monday, 03 August 2020:

  • At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into al-Issaweya village, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Mohammed Bassam Alian (22) and Faisal Loay Obaid (19) and arrested them.
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan, south of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Adam Qara’een’s (18) house and arrested him.
  • Around the same time, IOF moved into Aseera al-Shamaleya, north of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (4) civilians and released them after several hours. The arrestees are: Abdul Aziz Amer Rawajeba (22), Fares Bassam al-Shouly (30), Ja’far Omar Rawajeba (26), and Oqba Fayez al-Shouly (28).
  • At approximately 11:50, IOF stationed at bypass road, northeast of Jenin, north of the West Bank, arrested Mo’tasem Husni Abu Hanana (34), from Arana village. IOF took him to an unknown destination.
  • At approximately 13:00, IOF stationed at al-Container military checkpoint, east of Bethlehem, arrested Hussam Hasan Abu Husain, from Hebron, while passing through the checkpoint. IOF took him to an unknown destination.
  • At approximately 19:00, IOF stationed at Shu’fat refugee camp checkpoint, arrested Ahmed Abu Salah and Mohammed Abu Zaki, while passing through the checkpoint. IOF took them to an unknown destination.
  • At approximately 23:00, IOF moved into al-Wad neighborhood, one of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City’s neighborhoods. They raided and searched Zakareya al-Bakri’s (18) house and arrested him.
  • IOF carried out (4) incursions in Sa’eer, Nouba, al-Hadab, and al-‘Aroub refugee camp in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

Tuesday, 04 August 2020:

  • At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into al-Issaweya, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Kathem Monther Obaid’s (29) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 01:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into Beit Ummar, north of Hebron. They raided and searched Rasheed Ali Awad’s (24) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 14:00, IOF arrested Nafisa Mohammed Khwais (68), while present in the Aqsa Mosque’s yard in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. IOF took her to “Bab al-Asbat” police station.
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Ourif village, southeast of Nablus, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Yousef Omar Shehada (35) and Mohannad Faleh Shehada (26).
  • At approximately 02:40, IOF moved into Qalqilya. They raided and searched Fadi Omar Abu Snaina’s (30) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 02:45, IOF moved into al-Zababeda village, southeast of Jenin, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Ameer Issam al-Sharkawi (21).
  • At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into al-Jinan neighborhood, in the Central al-Beira, north of Ramallah governorate. They raided and searched Faraj Ali al-Qadi’s house and arrested her daughter Tasnim (28). IOF also handed him a summons to let his son, Mustafa (20), refer to the Israeli Intelligence Services in Ofer detention.
  • At approximately 15:50, IOF stationed at “Mevo Dotan” military checkpoint, west of ‘Arraba, southwest of Jenin, arrested Montaser Ahmed Samadi (24), from Qabatiya, southeast of the city. IOF took him to an unknown destination.
  • At approximately 16:00, IOF moved into al-Izareya village, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Alaa Ayman al-Sharbati’s (29) store and arrested him. It should be noted that Alaa is Ayman al-Sharbati’s son who is sentenced to life.
  • At approximately 17:00, IOF arrested Mustafa Faraj al-Qadi (20), while referring to the Israeli Intelligence Services in Ofer detention, in Bitounya, west of Ramallah.
  • IOF carried out (2) incursions in Deir Samit and Sourif in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

Wednesday, 05 August 2020:

  • At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Hebron. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (3) civilians: Ahmed Mohammed Abu Amro (20), Salim Ali Mouh (23) and Bilal Ra’ed Sidr (22).
  • At approximately 01:45, IOF moved into Kafr Qalil, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (4) civilians: Mohannad Ali Qanni (28), Khaled Na’eem Qanni (34), Ali Yehya Qanni (25), and Sharif Bassam Mansour (30).
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into al-Daheya neighborhood, southeast of Nablus, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Aziz Omar Dwaikat (36).
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into Dura, southwest of Hebron governorate. They raided and searched Hasan Ahmed Hijja’s (24) house and arrested him.
  • Around the same time, IOF moved into Hebron. They raided and searched several houses and arrested three civilians: Jehad Isma’el al-Najjar (24), Mohammed Faisal al-Najjar (25), and Mo’ath Yousef al-Najjar (23).
  • Around the same time, IOF moved into Abu Fraiha neighborhood in Beit Sahour. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Tareq Mousa al-‘Abayat (35) and Mohammed Ibarhim al-‘Abayat (40) and arrested them.
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Deir al-Hatab, northeast of Nablus, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Oday Ra’ouf Hussain (28).
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Sinjil village, northeast of Ramallah. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Hisham Adel Fuqaha (27) and Yasin Ibrahim Fuqaha (23) and arrested them.
  • At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into Ya’bad village, southwest of Jenin, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Yazan Ahmed Ba’jawi (23), a student at al-Najah National University in Nablus.
  • At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into al-Izza refugee camp, north of Bethlehem. They raided and searched Abdul Fattah Shu’aib Abu Shu’aira’s (25) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 03:30. IOF moved into Tubas, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Hakim Khaleel Fuqaha (28), from his house near al-Furqan Mosque, north of the city. It should be noted that Hakim is a person with disable.
  • At approximately 04:50, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles, moved into al-Jalazon refugee camp, north of Ramallah. They raided and searched two houses and arrested Tahreer Mahmoud Zeid (24) and Reyad Ramadan Alian (29).
  • At approximately 16:00, IOF summonsed the teacher Hanadi Mohammed al-Halawani (41), who is a former prisoner in the Israeli prisons, via a phone call to immediately refer to al-Qishla investigation center in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. As soon as she arrived, she was handed a decision that banning her travel abroad for 4 more months.
  • At approximately 18:00, IOF stationed at al-Mahkama military checkpoint, near “Beit Eil” settlement, north of al-Beira, arrested Bashar Mohammed Safi (22), from Ramallah. IOF took him to an unknown destination.
  • At approximately 19:00, IOF stationed at al-Container military checkpoint, east of Bethlehem, arrested the student Mohammed Ali al-Takrouri (22), Chairman of the Student Union at al-Quds Open University, while passing through the checkpoint. IOF took him to an unknown destination.
  • At approximately 23:30, IOF stationed at Beit Fourik military checkpoint, on the northeastern entrance of Nablus, north of the West Bank, arrested three civilians from Balata refugee camp, east of the city, and took them to unknown destinations. The arrestees are: Adham Eyad Mustafa (22), Ameed Zeyad Mustafa (19), and Mohammed Ramadan Mustafa (20).
  • IOF carried out an incursion in Kafr Qaddoum, northeast of Qalqilya. No arrests were reported.

Thursday, 06 August 2020:

  • At approximately 01:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles, moved into al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron. They raided and searched two houses and arrested Mohammed Izz al-Dein Teilekh (16) and Yousef Osama al-‘Anati (17).
  • At approximately 01:40, IOF moved into Izbat al-Ashkar village, south of Qalqilya. They raided and searched Anwar Fares Nimir’s (29) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles, moved into al-Samoua’ village, south of Hebron. They raided and searched Saleh Isma’el al-Badareen’s (25) house and arrested him.
  • Around the same time, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles, moved into Sa’eer village, north of Hebron. They raided and searched Qutaiba Idris Jaradat’s (26) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Ein Arik village, west of Ramallah governorate. They raided and searched Wasfi Nafiz Zeita’s (29) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into al-Masakn al-Sha’beya neighborhood, northeast of Nablus, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Mohammed Najeh Samara’s (25) house and arrested him.
  • Around the same time, IOF moved into Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched Ahmed Taleb Haj Mohammed’s (23) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into Beit Loqya village, west of Ramallah governorate. They raided and searched Mo’tasem Ali Dar Assi’s (32) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 03:30, IOF moved into Beit Sira village, west of Ramallah governorate. They raided and searched Owda Mohammed al-Haj’s (30) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 04:40, IOF moved into Beit Ur al-Tahta village, west of Ramallah governorate. They raided and searched Saad Asaad Dar Mousa’s (34) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 10:00, IOF moved into Shu’fat refugee camp, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Rayan Emran Alqam (22) and Mohammed Ismael ‘Anati (17), and arrested them.
  • At approximately 16:00, IOF moved into butchery shop in Dowar al-Daheya neighborhood in Beit Hanina, north of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched the shop and arrested the son of the shop owner, al-Miqdad Eisa Qirsh. IOF took him to an unknown destination.

Friday, 07 August 2020:

  • At approximately 01:40, IOF moved into Qalqilya. They raided and searched Omar Saleh Nayef Abu al-Rab’s (19) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron. They raided and searched Mohammed Naser Mahfouz’s (10) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Hindaza area, east of Bethlehem. They raided and searched Mohmmed Ateya Soboh’s (23) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 03:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into Yatta, south of Hebron governorate. They raided and searched Kamal Issa Dababesa’s (35) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 03:30, IOF moved into Faqou’a village, northeast of Jenin, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched Ameer Monther Massad’s (28) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 03:30, IOF moved into al-Dheesha refugee camp, south of Bethlehem. They raided and searched Hamza Bilal al-Dibis’s (20) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 19:00, IOF moved into Wadi Qana village, to the west of Deir Estia village, north of Salfit. They raided the village and arrested Yousef Ahmed Ridwan (27), from Azoun village, east of Qalqilya, while he was on a hiking trip.
  • IOF carried out (4) incursions in Ethna, Sourif, Nouba, and Karma villages. No arrests were reported.

Saturday, 08 August 2020:

  • IOF carried out an incursion in al-Jarousheya village, north of Tulkarm. No arrests were reported.

Sunday, 09 August 2020:

  • At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into Kherbet Um al-Kheir, to the east of Yatta, south of Hebron governorate. They raided and searched Eid Yamen al-Hathalin’s (74) house and took him to Karmi’el settlement and released him after two hours.
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Hizma village, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Laith Malek Subaih’s (19) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 02:15, IOF moved into Faqou’a village, northeast of Jenin, north of the West Bank. They raided and searched several houses and arrested three civilian who were arrested before. The arrestees are: Sayaf Khaleel Massad (34), Melad Fo’ad Massad (48), and Mohammed Jamal Arram (35).
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Beitillu village, northwest of Ramallah. They raided and searched Naser Mohammed Abu Zeyada’s (47) house, the chairman of the village council, and arrested him. IOF released him after several hours.
  • At approximately 03:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into al-Samoua’ village, south of Hebron. They raided and searched Yousef Mohammed Mahaiq’s house and no arrests were reported.
  • At approximately 03:50, IOF moved into al-Janeya village, northwest of Ramallah. They raided and searched Ashraf Mohammed Mazloum’s (43) house and arrested him. After three hours, IOF released him.
  • IOF carried out (2) incursions in al-Thahereya and Tarqoumya. No arrests were reported.

Monday, 10 August 2020:

  • At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into al-Issaweya village, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (4) civilians including a child. The arrestees are: Alaa Ahmed Dirbas (18), Fares Yaser Darwish (19), Tayseer Yousef Muhaisen (16), and Mohammed Nidal Abu Akar (20).
  • At approximately 04:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles moved into Ein al-Sultan refugee camp, northwest of Jericho governorate. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Ya’qoub Abu Lawi (26) and Ehab al-Kalouni (28) and arrested them.
  • At approximately 13:00, IOF moved into Daheyat al-Salam in Shu’fat refugee camp, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Omar al-‘Anati’s (23) house and arrested him.

Tuesday, 11 August 2020:

  • At approximately 00:15, IOF stationed at a temporary military checkpoint on the entrance of Deir Sharaf village, west of Nablus, arrested Ali Abu Sitta (26), from Bal’a village, north of Tulkarm. IOF took him to an unknown destination.
  • At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Yatta village, south of Hebron governorate. They raided and searched Faisal Mohammed al-Najjar’s (45) house and arrested him along with his wife, Maha al-Najjar (38) and his two sons; Mohammed (20), and Mousa (19).
  • At approximately 03:30, IOF moved into Qalqilya village. They raided and searched Ammar Yousef Dwaikat’s (32) house and arrested him.
  • IOF carried out (3) incursions in Halhoul, Hebron, and Nouba in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

Wednesday, 12 August 2020:

  • At approximately 00:15, IOF stationed at Za’tara military checkpoint, south of Nablus, arrested Firas Abdul Khaleq (33), from Deir al-Ghossoun village, north of Tulkarm. IOF took him to an unknown destination before they released him.
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Qafin village, north of Tulkarm. They raided and searched Emad Ibrahim To’ma’s (48) house and arrested him. It should be noted that To’ma is the General Director of the Ministry of Prisoners and Executives Affairs in Tulkarm, and he is a former prisoner who spent 12-years in the Israeli prisons.
  • At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into al-Duha village, west of Bethlehem. They raided and searched Ahmed Abdul Hadi Shamroukh’s (22) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Qafin village, north of Tulkarm. They raided and searched Mustafa Yousef To’ma’s (40) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Nour Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarm. They raided and searched Fathi Qar’awi’s house, the deputy in the dissolved Legislative Council. IOF directly threatened him and his sons of arrest if they contacted with external authorities. No arrests were reported.
  • Around the same time, IOF moved into Deir al-Ghossoun village, north of Tulkarm. They raided and searched Abdul Rahman Zeidan’s house, the deputy in the dissolved Legislative Council. IOF directly threatened him of arrest if he contacted with external authorities. No arrests were reported.
  • At approximately 08:45, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles to the north of Bouret Abu Samra area, north of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, and moved 100-meters to the south of the border fence. They leveled and combed lands that were previously leveled amidst Israeli sporadic shooting, which caused fear and panic among farmers. At approximately 10:30, IOF withdrew; no casualties were reported.
  • At approximately 09:00, IOF moved into al-Issaweya, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Yousef Ali al-Kaswani’s (22) house and arrested him.
  • At approximately 15:00, IOF detained dozens of civilians after passing through a gate in the annexation wall established at Daheyat Shwaika village, in Tulkarm. IOF closed the gate and prevented civilians from entering it and released them later.
  • At approximately 15:30, IOF arrested Ahmed Tawfiq Fuqaha (31), from ‘Anabta village, north of Tulkarm, while heading to the Israeli Intelligence Services’ headquarter.
  • Around the same time, IOF arrested two female farmers behind the annexation wall established on al-Zaweya village, west of Salfit, and banned them from returning to their houses by closing the gate. The arrestees are: Hamda Shuqair (79) and Jazila Shuqair (77). IOF released them later.
  • At approximately 04:00, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles, moved into al-Mazra’a al-Gharbeya village, north of Ramallah governorate. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (4) civilians. The arrestees are: Azmi Sufian Shraiteh (24), Mousa Hasan Ladadwa (22), Mohammed Akram Ladadwa (26), and his brother Saif (19).
  • Around the same time, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles, moved into Silwad, northeast of Ramallah governorate. They raided and searched two houses belonging to Jalal Ra’ed Abdul Mo’ez (26) and Abdul Aziz Ahmed Soboh (23) and arrested them.
  • IOF carried out (3) incursions in Tulkarm, Dura, and Imreish villages in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

III. Settlement Expansion and settler violence in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem

  • Demolition and Confiscation of Civilian Property
  • At approximately 10:00 on Wednesday, 29 July 2020, IOF accompanied with military vehicles moved into Fraseen village, southwest of Jenin, where they distributed 9 cease-construction and demolition notices to old houses, caves and facilities built 200 years ago, in addition to new residential houses and water tanks. IOF ordered to implement the notices within few days. The distributed notices were as follows:
  • Khaled Mohammed ‘Amarnah’s 50 -square-meter room built of bricks and roofed with tin plates, 15- square-meter store and wood columns, in addition to handing him cease-construction notices to a chicken coop and sheep barrack.
  • ‘Emad Mahmoud ‘Amarnah’s 60-square-meter residential room built of bricks.
  • Mahmoud Ahmed ‘Amarnah’s 80- square-meter residential room built of bricks.
  • Wajdi Mohammed ‘Amarnah’s 60-square-meter residential room built of bricks.
  • Mohammed Jameel Hersha’s water tank that feeds the village.
  • Basel Fayiz ‘Amarnah’s 30-square-meter residential room, chicken coop, wood columns, 80-sqaure-meter sheep barrack, and 60-square-meter residential room.
  • Ahmed Mahmoud ‘Amarnah’s 150-square-meter cave.
  • At approximately 11:00 on Wednesday, 29 July 2020, IOF backed by military construction vehicles and accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers moved into Istiboul area in Yatta city, south of Hebron. IOF were deployed in the area while military construction vehicles demolished ‘Adnan ‘Imran Abu Isninah’s walls surrounded his 10 dunums, under the pretext of non-licensing in Area C. It should be noted that Israeli authorities handed Isninah a 96-hour demolition notice No. (1779), so there is not enough time to challenge before competent Israeli authorities.
  • At approximately 11:00, IOF stationed on settlement road (90), which is adjacent to al-Zabidat village, north of Jericho, confiscated 2 diggers and prevented their owners from plowing their agricultural land. The confiscated diggers belong to Mohammed ‘Ali Mohammed Zobidat and Ahmed Mohammed Farhan Zobidat.
  • At approximately 14:00, IOF backed by military construction vehicles moved into Beit ‘Awaa village, southwest of Hebron. IOF were deployed in the area while the military construction vehicles demolished foundations of a 100-square-meter house belonging to Mo’ath Hafiz Salem al-Sowati (22), under the pretext of non-licensing. It should be noted that Israeli authorities handed al-Sowati a 96-hour demolition notice No. (1779). Al- Sowati’s house is located 200 square meters away from the annexation wall.
  • At approximately 20:00 on Wednesday, 29 July 2020, IOF moved into Rafat village, west of Salfit, where they distributed a military order to confiscate 15 dunums from Hariqat al-Hamyanah area, under the pretext of being in Area C. These dunums belong to Basem Sebti ‘Ayyash, Nasheet Sebti ‘Ayyash, ‘Abed al-Latif Sati ‘Ayyash, and ‘Amirah Sati ‘Ayyash. Nasheet Sebti ‘Ayyash said that: “ I have been working in this agricultural land (30 dunums) for 20 years and it belongs to me and my brothers. I planted it with olive trees years ago. The land is far from the annexation wall and it was the first time that Israeli authorities notified us, claiming that this land is a state-owned land. The Israeli allegations are not true, as I never had to stop planting or rehabilitating my land. The Israeli notice gave us 45 days to challenge before the competent Israeli authorities.”
  • At approximately 10:00 on Thursday, 30 July 2020, IOF accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers moved into al-Sahal area, which is adjacent to al-Moghair village. IOF confiscated Mohammed Naji al-Na’san’s digger while conducting excavation works in the area, under the pretext of illegal work in Area C.
  • At approximately 10:30 on Saturday, 01 August 2020, IOF moved into Kherbet ‘Atouf, southeast of Tubas, where they confiscated Za’ir Mostafa Bsharat’s digger while he was excavating a water line for the villagers.
  • At approximately 09:20 on Sunday, 02 August 2020, IOF backed by military construction vehicles moved into Kafur al-Deek village in western Salfit, where they distributed 9 cease-construction notices to 7 houses; 3 of them are under-construction, an agricultural room, and a greenhouse, under the pretext of being in Area C. The notified houses and properties belong to Islam ‘Abed al-Ghani, Ibrahim Naji, Hadi Naji, Ibrahim Taha, Tamer Taha, Naji Taha, Mahmoud Naji, Husam al-Deek, and Feras al-Deek. It should be noted that Israeli authorities gave them mentioned civilians until 11 August 2020 to challenge against the notices.
  • At approximately 09:40, IOF backed by military vehicles moved into Khirbet ar-Ras al Ahmar in northern Jordan Valley, east of Tubas, where they distributed demolition notices to houses, barracks and farms belonging to Mohammed ‘Issa Jahaleen, Jameel Suliman Bani ‘Odah and Saier Saqer Bani ‘Odah.
  • On Monday, 03 August 2020, Israeli authorities seized at least 200 dunums from Kisan village lands, east of Bethlehem. They also notified Hussain ‘Abdullah ‘Abiyat to demolish his barrack. Ahmed Ghazal, Head of the village council, said to PCHR’s fieldworker that IOF moved into al-Tina area, south of the village, and denied civilians’ access to their lands, under the pretext of confiscating the lands for military purposes. Also, IOF notified ‘Abiyat to demolish his livestock barrack and gave him 24 hours to leave, or he will be arrested and prosecuted.
  • On the same day, Eyad Abu Subeih implemented the Israeli Municipality order and self-demolished his house located in ‘Ein al-Jowizah neighborhood in Silwan village, south of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, under the pretext of non-licensing. Abu Subeih said that the Israeli Court issued a final demolition decision against his 110-square-meter house built 3 years ago and sheltered 10 persons. Abu Subeih clarified that last month, IOF raided and attacked his house several times, but the lawyer managed to delay the demolition decision.
  • At approximately 13:20 on 04 August 2020, IOF accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers moved into Dir Balout village, west of Salfit, where they distributed 9 notices to uproot olive trees belonging to 8 families, under the pretext of being in Area C. In addition, IOF distributed another notice to stop reclaiming a plot of land in Ta’mor area. The notified lands belong to the heirs of: ‘Issa Hasan ‘Issa, ‘Abdullah Musa and Dar Damara.
  • At approximately 08:00 on Wednesday, 05 August 2020, Israeli bulldozers demolished 3 residential houses in ‘Ain al-Louza neighborhood in Silwan village, south of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, under the pretext of non-licensing. Khaled Abu Tayieh, Chairman of Silwan Land Defense Committee, said that Israeli municipality staff along with special Israeli forces and police officers moved into in ‘Ain al-Louza neighborhood, where they closed all entrances and stationed on streets. IOF then surrounded 3 houses belonging to al-Qaq and ‘Amro families and demolished them. Abu Tayieh clarified that Israeli bulldozers demolished Samer and Suliman al-Qaq’s 250-square-meter houses sheltering 10 persons; most of them are children. He added that regarding Shareef ‘Amro’s 50-square-meter house, which was built in 2000, Israeli authorities issued a demolition decision against ‘Amro’s house in 2010, but the demolition was delayed with paying a fine of NIS 5000. Ten days earlier, ‘Amro was informed about the final demolition decision.
  • In the morning, IOF backed by military construction vehicles moved into Kherbet ‘Allan in al-Shofa area, north of al-Jeftlik village, north of Jericho. IOF were deployed in al-Kherba while the military construction vehicles uprooted at least Anwar Abu Joda’s 100 palm seedlings planted 2-4 years ago.
  • At approximately 11:00, IOF backed by military construction vehicles moved into al-‘Issaweya village, adjacent to al-Za’eem village, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem. IOF demolished 2 agricultural rooms built of bricks and tin plates and other sheds placed in agricultural lands. The agricultural rooms and sheds belong to ‘Obaid and Abu Jum’a families. Mohammed Abu al-Humus, Member of al-‘Issawiyia Follow-up Committee, said that IOF along with Beit Eill Municipality’s staff moved into agricultural lands reclaimed by Murad Anwar ‘Obaid and Mohammed ‘Ataa ‘Obaid, demolished sheds and a fence surrounding the lands, and leveled the lands. Abu al-Humus added that Israeli bulldozers also demolished 2 agricultural room belonging to ‘Obaid and Abu Jum’a families and confiscated agricultural tools. Abu al-Humus pointed out that these agricultural lands are threatened to be confiscated in favor of the settlement project “E1”.
  • On the same day, IOF accompanied with military construction vehicles moved into Rantees village, northwest of Ramallah, where they demolished agricultural facilities, under the pretext of non-licensing. The demolished facilities were as follows:
  1. Mostafa Jamal Hosha’s 60-square-meter agricultural facility built of bricks and wood, roofed with tin plates and used for planting vegetables and fruits.
  2. Mo’ath ‘Ayed al-Khatib’s 80-square-meter agricultural facility built of bricks and wood, roofed with tin plates and used for planting vegetables and fruits.
  • At approximately 09:00 on Thursday, 06 August 2020, IOF backed by military construction vehicles and accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers moved into Wad Jehish area, west of Sosiya village, south of Yatta in southern Hebron. IOF were deployed in the area while the military construction vehicles demolished Hisham Khalil Nawaj’ah’s 40-square-meter house built of bricks and tin plates, under the pretext of non-licensing. It should be noted that in June 2020, Israeli authorities handed Nawaj’aj a demolition notice, but he could not delay the demolition due to the closure of Israeli institution under the pretext of the outbreak of coronavirus.
  • On Friday, 07 August 2020, IOF distributed 2 cease-construction notices to inhabited houses in al-Minyia village, southeast of Bethlehem, under the pretext of non-licensing. Head of al-Minyia village council, Zayed Kawazbah, said that the notified 150-square-meter houses sheltering 14 persons belong to ‘Asaf and ‘Issa ‘Adel al-Faroukh.
  • On Friday, Nihad Subeih Shoqirat implemented the Israeli municipality decision and self-demolished his 2-storey house in al-Sal’a neighborhood in al-Mukaber Mount area, southeast of occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of non-licensing. Shoqirat said that he started to build his house in 2012 and he lived in it last year. During this period, he attempted to license the house, but the municipality refused and issued a demolition notice against it. Shoqirat clarified that during the past years, he managed to delay and freeze the demolition several times, but in July 2019 the municipality refused to delay the demolition. In April 2020, the Israeli municipality held another hearing, stressed the demolition against Shoqirat’s house and imposed a fine of NIS 145,000 on him. Shoqirat added that on 07 July 2020, he headed to the Israeli District Court to appeal the demolition decision, but in vain. The Israeli Municipality gave him a month to implement the demolition or it will do so and impose heavy fines on him. Shoqirat pointed out that he sold all his possessions and savings to build his house, which costs more than one million US dollars. He added that his 160-square-meter house sheltered 11 persons.
  • At approximately 08:00 on Monday, 10 August 2020, IOF backed by military construction vehicles moved into Kafur Thulth village, east of Qalqilya. They leveled agricultural lands and placed water pipes as a prelude to seize the area.
  • At approximately 10:00 on Monday, 10 August 2020, IOF backed by military construction vehicles and accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers moved into al-Thaghrah area, east of Beit Ummer village, north of Hebron. IOF confiscated Moneer Hasan Barghith’s 3 water pumps used for irrigating crops and handed him a summons to refer to the Israeli Intelligence Service in “Gush Etizon” settlement, south of Bethlehem.
  • At approximately 11:00, IOF backed by military construction vehicles moved into al-Tawana village, east of Yatta, south of Hebron. IOF, who were deployed in the village, established a military watchtower in a plot of land near “Hafat Ma’oun” settlement, which is established on Palestinians’ confiscated lands. Israeli authorities claimed that there was a military decision to establish the watchtower for military purposes.
  • On Monday, 10 August 2020, Khaled Abu Ta’ah implemented the Israeli Municipality decision and self-demolished his house in al-Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, north of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, under the pretext of non-licensing. Abu Ta’ah said that he built a new house a year and a half ago near his family’s house built since 1960. He added that the construction of his house took about two months, during which the Israeli municipality issued a demolition decision against it. He was able to postpone and freeze the decision, but the court issued the final decision last month and the municipality gave him a month to implement the demolition or it will do so. Abu Ta’ah clarified that he attempted to license the house several times, but in vain. He added that he and his family comprised of 8 members live in the old house, and he was forced to build the new 85-square-meter house for his son to live in it after he gets married. Abu Ta’ah said that he and his sons vacated the house and self-demolished it to avoid paying the demolition costs for the municipality staff.
  • At approximately 08:00 on Tuesday, 11 August 2020, Israeli bulldozers demolished a 2-storey residential facility sheltering 25 persons, in addition to a nearby residential apartment (120 sqm) belonging to al-Tahan family in Wadi Qaddoum neighborhood in Silwan village, south of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, under the pretext of non-licensing. Khaled Abu Taieh, Member of the Silwan Lands Defense Committee, said that the Israeli bulldozers and municipality staff raided al-Tahan family facility after completely surrounding it and then demolished it. Abu Taieh added that the 2-storey facility (400 sqm) belong to Wael, Nader and ‘Alaa al-Tahan. Wael al-Tahan said that he and his brothers built the facility in 1992 and after few months, the Israeli municipality issued a decision to seize lands from Ras al-‘Amoud and Wadi Qaddoum neighborhoods, under the pretext of being public utilities. Wael clarified that after several years, the Israeli municipality issued a demolition notice against their facility, under the pretext of non-licensing. In addition, the municipality notified his brothers that the land will be used for public utilities. Wael said that during the past years, he managed to delay the demolition several times and attempted  to license the house, but in vain. Also, the municipality imposed a fine of NIS 280,000 on his family, who attempted to license the house before building it, but the municipality refused. It should be noted that Israeli authorities escalated the demolition of houses in occupied East Jerusalem in 2020, as they demolished over 90 facilities, including buildings, residential houses, agricultural and commercial facilities, walls, and barracks. It is noteworthy that the number of facilities demolished this year until August is more than the facilities that were demolished throughout the past year, noting that the demolitions stopped during the emergency period that was taken to limit the spread of the Coronavirus. Last July, more than 20 houses were demolished in occupied East Jerusalem, half of them self-demolished. During the first 10 days of August, ten houses were demolished; 7 were self-demolished.
  • At approximately 09:00, IOF backed by military construction vehicles and accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers moved into Sosiyia village, south of Yatta in southern Hebron. IOF were deployed between Palestinains’ house while Israeli Civil Administration officers demolished and confiscated Ahmed Jaber Hammad Nawaj’ah’s 30-square-meter tent built of steel columns and sheds. IOF also confiscated Mahmoud Khaled Nawaj’ah (32)’s concrete mixer and 10 steel columns, in addition to handing him a cease-construction notice to his under-construction room, under the pretext of non-licensing.
  • On the same time, IOF backed by military construction vehicles and accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers moved into al-Fakheet area in southern Hebron. Israeli Civil Administration officers dismantled Jameel Mohammed al-‘Amour’s tent built of sheds and steel columns and confiscated it, under the pretext of non-licensing. The tent sheltered 8 members, including 4 children.
  • At approximately 10:30, IOF moved into Kafur al-Deek village, west of Salfit. They detained a concert pump and 2 trucks belonging to al-Marsah company while working in Hadi Nabil Naji’s plot of land. It should be noted that Naji’s land is threatened to be confiscated, as it is located in al-Sha’ab area. IOF forced the company’s owner, Fadi Mahmoud Sarsour, to sign a pledge not to transfer the concrete and work in Area C.
  • At approximately 11:00, IOF backed by military construction vehicles and accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers moved into Maghayir al-‘Abeed area in southern Hebron. IOF demolished Shehadah Mohammed Makhamrah’s 100-sqaure-meter tent built of sheds and steel columns and used for breeding sheep, under the pretext of non-licensing.
  • On the same day, IOF uprooted 100 olive seedlings and leveled agricultural lands in Khelet al-Nahlah area, south of Bethlehem. Hasan  Breijieh, Head of the Bethlehem office of Settlement and Wall Resistance Commission, said that IOF leveled ‘Amer Abu Zaghreet’s agricultural land (1.5 dunum) and demolished a retaining wall, under the pretext of being an antiquities area. It should be noted that Khelet al-Nahlah area is exposed to a settlement attack, as 1,200 dunums were seized in order to establish a settlement outpost called “Givat Eitam.”
  • On the same day, ‘Aziz ‘Eliyan implemented the Israeli Municipality decision and self-demolished his house in al-Mukaber Mount area, southeast of occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of non-licensing. ‘Eliyan said that 10 years ago, he added a 100-square-meter building to his old house in order to shelter his family comprised of 9 members. ‘Eliyan clarified that the Israeli Municipality issued a demolition notice against the new building and he managed to delay the demolition for several years. Two weeks ago, IOF raided his house and informed him about the final demolition decision. IOF gave him until the mid of August to implement the demolition or the municipality staff will do so.
  • At approximately 22:00, Ibrahim Abu Subi’ah implemented the Israeli Municipality decision and self-demolished his house near Beit Safafa village, south of occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of non-licensing. Abu Subi’ah said that he built his house in 2001 on his land near Beit Safafa village. Abu Subi’ah clarified that his 3-storey house (600 sqm) costs millions of shekels. He added that when he finished the construction of his house, the municipality fined him of NIS 150,000. Abu Subi’ah paid $ 60,000 to the lawyer who managed to delay and freeze the demolition decision for several times. Abu Subi’ah pointed out that he was shocked when IOF raided his house and handed him the administrative demolition notice. Abu Subi’ah immediately phoned his lawyer, Sami Rasheed, who attempted to delay the demolition, but in vain. Abu Subi’ah was forced to self-demolished his house to avoid paying the demolition costs for the municipality staff.
  • On Wednesday, 12 August 2020, Abu Jum’a family implemented the Israeli Municipality decision and self-demolished his house in Khelet al-‘Ein area in al-Tour neighborhood, east of occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of non-licensing. Ibrahim Abu Jum’a said that he and his brother Mohammed were forced to self-demolished their house after the lawyer informed them that there was no legal way to stop the demolition of their house, and that the Israeli municipality would force them to pay the demolition costs estimated at NIS 70,000. Abu Jum’a clarified that they started to build their 180-square-meter house (2 floors) in April 2020 and the house was still under-construction. Abu Jum’a pointed out that he was handed the first demolition notice in 20 April 2020 and the second notice on 03 May 2020. He headed to the court which refused the appeal against the demolition and decided to implement the demolition within 14 days. Abu Jum’a added that his lawyer extended the demolition decision for 3 months and paid NIS 25,000. The lawyer phoned Abu Jum’a and informed him that he no longer could delay the demolition, so Ibrahim and his brother were forced to self-demolished their house.
  • Israeli Settler Violence
  • On Saturday, 01 August 2020, 10 sheep died  after they were poisoned while grazing them in a pastoral area, close to a settlement outpost established on Kherbet Jeb’eet lands in al-Moghair village, northeast of Ramallah. The sheep’s owner accused the settlers of intentionally poisoning  his sheep. According to information obtained by PCHR’s fieldworker that Fadel Ibrahim Hamed headed to a pastoral area in Kherbet Jeb’eet lands, adjacent to a settlement outpost, to graze his sheep. In afternoon, Hamed took his 20 sheep and returned to the barn. After that, he was shocked when he saw his sheep died together within  few minutes. He immediately brought a veterinarian to treat them , and it turned out the sheep were poisoned. As a result, 10 sheep died while the rest sustained pain.
  • At approximately 13:00, 3 siblings, a woman and 2 children, sustained bruises after Israeli settlers attacked them in Tal al-Ramida neighborhood in the central of Hebron. According to PCHR’s investigations, a group of Israeli settlers chased and attacked Marwa ‘Emad Abu Shmaisah (17) while she was present in front of her family house and carrying her niece, Tarteel Taninah (6 months). Marwa’s brother ‘Awni (21) attempted to confront the settlers, meanwhile, IOF arrived at the area and attacked the family as well. As a result, Marwa’s sister Madleen (27) sustained bruises in her right foot, her brother Saleh (15) sustained wounds in his hand. In addition, IOF arrested ‘Awni and took him to an investigation center in “Kiryat Arba’” settlement. Half an hour later, IOF took Marwa and her mother Fayiza Abu Shamisah to a police station to file a complaint. In the evening, all of them were released.

Marwa Abu Shmaisah said to PCHR’s fieldworker that:  ” At approximately 13:00 on Saturday, my niece Tarteel and I were heading to the grocery store near our house. When we were on our way back to the home, Israeli settlers chased me, spitted on me, cursed me, and grabbed my hair. I ran away towards the house and shouted. My brother ‘Awni (21) saw me, caught me quickly and pushed the settlers to keep them away from me. In the meantime, IOF arrived and gathered in front of our house. My family got out of the house and the settlers cursed them. One of the settlers threw empty bottle at us, wounding my sister Madleen (27) in her right foot. After that, an Israeli police patrol arrived at the house, raided it, arrested my brother ‘Awni, and took him with them. Half an hour later, the Israeli police arrived at our house again and asked me to accompany them to the investigation center in “Kiryat Arba” settlement in order to take my statement of what happened and my mother escorted me there. After interrogating us, we were released at 19:30, and my brother ‘Awni was also released. ”

  • At approximately 02:30 on Tuesday, 04 August 2020, Israeli settlers, from “Hafat Jel’ad” settlement outpost, which is established on Fer’ata village lands, northeast of Qalqilya, moved into the outskirts of the village. The settlers set 2 vehicles on fire; the first was a taxi belonging to Marwan Ahmed Taweel, while the second was a private car for Sharhabeel al-Taweel. The settlers also vandalized the vehicles with racist slogans.
  • At approximately 22:30 on Tuesday, 11 August 2020, Israeli settlers, from ” Yatizhar” settlement, southeast of Nablus, threw stones at a vehicle passing on the street. As a result, the vehicle’s windshield was broken. It should be noted that the vehicle’s driver Hisham ‘Adoun (54) along with his wife ‘Abla Mostafa al-Tamouni and their son Fathi (27) were coming from Tulkarm and heading towards ‘Orta village, southeast of Nablus.
  • Closure policy and restrictions on freedom of movement of persons and goods

Gaza Strip:

On Monday, 10 August 2020, Israeli authorities  announced the closure of the Gaza Strip’s sole commercial crossing “Karm Abu Salem”. According to PCHR’s follow-up, on Monday, 10 August 2020, Israeli authorities  announced the closure of Karm Abu Salem crossing starting from Tuesday, 11 August 2020, except for the transportation of goods for vital humanitarian cases and fuel. According to Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the decision was taken “in response to the launch of incendiary balloons and breaching security calm.”

This decision falls under the framework of the complete, illegal and unhumanitarian closure policy imposed by the Israeli authorities on the Gaza Strip since June 2007, as the  Gaza Strip crossings have witnessed tightened restrictions on the movement of goods and persons.

Regarding commercial crossings, Israeli authorities continue to impose strict restrictions on the entry of goods classified as “dual use materials.” The Israeli authorities officially list 62 items as “dual use items” which contain hundreds of goods and basic materials. The items on the “dual-use goods” list are essential to the life of the population, so imposing restrictions on them contribute to the deterioration of infrastructure and the deterioration of economic, health and education conditions. Israeli authorities also continue to ban the export of Gaza Strip products, excluding limited quantities that do not surpass 5% of Gaza’s monthly exports before the closure in June 2007.

As to the crossing dedicated for movement of individuals, the extreme measures enforced by the Israeli authorities on the freedom of movement from and to the Gaza Strip via Beit Hanoun crossing are still in effect. Since early March 2020, restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian Authority continued for the purpose of combating the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). These measures decreased and limited the number of persons and categories allowed to travel, as all categories were banned travel, except for limited humanitarian cases, and only patients are allowed to travel for treatment abroad.

On Wednesday, 12 August 2020, Israeli authorities announced  reducing the allowed fishing area off the Gaza sea to 8 nautical miles.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation stated that Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered to immediately reduce the allowed fishing area from 15 to 8 nautical miles until further notice in response to the launch of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip.

Zakaria Baker, Head of the Fishermen Committees  in Gaza, said that Israeli gunboats chased Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza sea and ordered them to sail within the allowed fishing area. Baker added that Israeli naval forces fired a barrage of live bullets and pumped water at the fishermen who were forced to flee.

West Bank:

In addition to permanent checkpoints and closed roads, this week witnessed the establishment of more temporary checkpoints that restrict the goods and individuals movement between villages and cities and deny civilians’ access to their work. IOF established 57 temporary checkpoints, where they searched Palestinians’ vehicles, checked their IDs and arrested 15 of them. IOF closed many roads with cement cubes, metal detector gates and sand berms and tightened their measures against individuals movement at military permanent checkpoints.

Ramallah and al-Bireh:

  • On Tuesday, 04 August 2020, IOF established a checkpoint on a main street leading to al-Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah.

Jericho:

  • On Tuesday, 04 August 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the southern entrance to Jericho and on al-Mo’arajat road (between Jericho and Ramallah).
  • On Monday, 10 August 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the northern and western entrances to Jericho.

Hebron:

  • On Thursday, 29 July 2020, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrances to Ethna and Sa’ir villages and at the entrance to al-Fawar refugee camp.
  • On Friday, 31 July 2020, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrance to al-Shayyoukh village, on Beit ‘Aynoun road and at the southern entrance to Hebron.
  • On Sunday, 02 August 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the northern entrance to Hebron and at the entrance to Ethna village.
  • On Monday, 03 August 2020, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrance to al-Fawar refugee camp, and at the entrances to Beit Ummer and Dir Samet villages.
  • On Wednesday, 05 August 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the southern entrance to Halhoul city and at the southern entrance to Hebron.
  • On Thursday, 06 August 2020, IOF established 4 checkpoints at the entrances to Sa’ir, Beit Ummer and Raboud villages, and at the entrance to al-‘Aroub refugee camp.
  • On Friday, 07 August 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the western entrance to Hebron and at the southern entrance to Halhoul city.
  • On Saturday, 08 August 2020, IOF established 4 checkpoints at the entrance to al-Fawar refugee camp, at the entrance to Sima village, at the northern entrance to Yatta, and at the western entrance to Hebron.
  • On Sunday, 09 August 2020, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrances to Sa’ir, Wad al-Shajinah and Ethna villages.
  • On Monday, 10 August 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the entrances to Sureef and Beit ‘Aynoun villages.
  • On Tuesday, 11 August 2020, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrances to Ethna and Kerza villages and at the entrance to al-Fawar refugee camp.
  • On Wednesday, 12 August 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the entrance to al-‘Aroub refugee camp and at the southern entrance to Halhoul village.

Nablus:

  • On Saturday, 01 August 2020, IOF established a checkpoint at ‘Ainabous village square, southeast of the city.
  • On Sunday, 02 August 2020, IOF established 3 checkpoints between Jaloud and Qasrah villages, at the entrance to Qaryout village and at al-Maslakh square, east of the city.
  • On Monday, 03 August 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at “Shafi Shamroun” intersection and at al-Moraba’ah intersection, south of the city.

Jenin:

  • On Thursday, 30 July 2020, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance to Ya’boud village, southwest of the city.

Salfit:

  • On Thursday, 30 July 2020, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance to Merda village, north of Salfit.
  • On Saturday, 08 August 2020, IOF established a checkpoint at the eastern entrance to Merda village, north of Salfit.

Qalqilya:

  • On Thursday, 30 July 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the entrances to ‘Azoun and ‘Izbit al-Tabeeb villages, east of the city.
  • On Sunday, 02 August 2020, IOF established 4 checkpoints at the entrance to Qalqilya and at the entrances to ‘Izbit al-Tabeeb, ‘Azoun and al-Nabi Iyyas villages.
  • On Sunday, 06 August 2020, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the entrance to Qalqilya and at the entrances to ‘Izbit al-Tabeeb village.
  • On Tuesday, 11 August 2020, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrance to al-Qalqilya and at the entrances to ‘Izbit al-Tabeeb and Hebla villages.

Tulkarm:

  • At approximately 08:15 on Tuesday, 11 August 2020, IOF closed a hole in the annexation wall established on Far’oun village lands, south of Tulkarn. IOF also detained a bus carrying Palestinians while heading to Israel. IOF fired sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the Palestinians, and prevented them from entering and exiting the hole, the entrance for workers employed in Israel.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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