9 mar 2015
A number of school children on Monday morning choked on tear gas grenades randomly unleashed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in the environs of the Ibrahimi Mosque, in the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil.
Eye-witnesses said the IOF troops targeted the school children with heavy volleys of tear gas canisters near the Ibrahimi Mosque under the pretext of carrying out military drills.
Meanwhile, an arbitrary mass-abduction campaign, targeting Palestinian ex-prisoners, was launched by the IOF in al-Khalil and its adjacent areas.
Locals said the IOF stormed Ras al-Joura, in al-Khalil, and scoured Palestinians’ family homes shortly before they kidnapped the Palestinian youngster Qassam Qufeisha and another unidentified citizen.
The IOF further apprehended engineer Fouad al-Shamasti moments after they stormed his office and seized his personal laptop.
A number of Palestinian ex-prisoners have been rounded up in the process.
A series of makeshift roadblocks has also been pitched near al-Khalil city by the IOF troops. The latter reportedly scoured al-Khalil’s towns of Yatta, al-Samou’, Halhoul, and Sai’r and scoured the towns' main streets via a flock of army jeeps.
Earlier, overnight Sunday, the IOF troops raided Erka town, west of Jenin city, via army jeeps and interrogated a number of Palestinian citizens.
Locals said the IOF broke into the house of Mousa Mohamed Salim and summoned him for interrogation.
On Sunday morning, the IOF reportedly stormed the house of martyr Amer Abu Eisha in al-Khalil and interrogated his father on the spot.
In another raid, two Palestinian youngsters from al-Khalil’s town of Dura were apprehended.
Eye-witnesses said the IOF troops targeted the school children with heavy volleys of tear gas canisters near the Ibrahimi Mosque under the pretext of carrying out military drills.
Meanwhile, an arbitrary mass-abduction campaign, targeting Palestinian ex-prisoners, was launched by the IOF in al-Khalil and its adjacent areas.
Locals said the IOF stormed Ras al-Joura, in al-Khalil, and scoured Palestinians’ family homes shortly before they kidnapped the Palestinian youngster Qassam Qufeisha and another unidentified citizen.
The IOF further apprehended engineer Fouad al-Shamasti moments after they stormed his office and seized his personal laptop.
A number of Palestinian ex-prisoners have been rounded up in the process.
A series of makeshift roadblocks has also been pitched near al-Khalil city by the IOF troops. The latter reportedly scoured al-Khalil’s towns of Yatta, al-Samou’, Halhoul, and Sai’r and scoured the towns' main streets via a flock of army jeeps.
Earlier, overnight Sunday, the IOF troops raided Erka town, west of Jenin city, via army jeeps and interrogated a number of Palestinian citizens.
Locals said the IOF broke into the house of Mousa Mohamed Salim and summoned him for interrogation.
On Sunday morning, the IOF reportedly stormed the house of martyr Amer Abu Eisha in al-Khalil and interrogated his father on the spot.
In another raid, two Palestinian youngsters from al-Khalil’s town of Dura were apprehended.
26 feb 2015
Jewish extremist groups wrote on Thursday racist slurs on a Palestinian school wall in Oreef town to the south of Nablus.
Oreef council secretary Adel Amer said, in a press release, that the Israeli settlers sprayed racist graffiti on the wall of the secondary school including “Death to Arabs”.
“This is not the first time that Jewish settlers write such racist slogans in addition to assaulting the town inhabitants and properties”, he said.
The extremist Jewish settlers deliberately raid Palestinian towns near bypass roads that allow their easy escape after committing their offences.
Oreef council secretary Adel Amer said, in a press release, that the Israeli settlers sprayed racist graffiti on the wall of the secondary school including “Death to Arabs”.
“This is not the first time that Jewish settlers write such racist slogans in addition to assaulting the town inhabitants and properties”, he said.
The extremist Jewish settlers deliberately raid Palestinian towns near bypass roads that allow their easy escape after committing their offences.
Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) Thursday morning distributed demolition
notices for buildings and tents to the east of Yatta town in southern
al-Khalil.
The Coordinator of the Popular Committee against Wall and Settlement, Ratib al-Jabour, said that the IOF escorted by Israeli Civil Administration teams stormed al-Majaz town and handed its inhabitants demolition notices.
The notices included the primary school in the town which includes dozens of students from nearby villages and tents belonging to two Palestinian brothers.
Jabour added that these notices are part of the Israeli plan to confiscate the land of Yatta town that sprawls over an area of more than 50,000 dunums.
The Coordinator of the Popular Committee against Wall and Settlement, Ratib al-Jabour, said that the IOF escorted by Israeli Civil Administration teams stormed al-Majaz town and handed its inhabitants demolition notices.
The notices included the primary school in the town which includes dozens of students from nearby villages and tents belonging to two Palestinian brothers.
Jabour added that these notices are part of the Israeli plan to confiscate the land of Yatta town that sprawls over an area of more than 50,000 dunums.
25 feb 2015
A number of armed Israeli extremists opened fire, on Wednesday at dawn, targeting a number of Palestinian homes in Nahhalin village, west of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, causing damage but no injuries. Soldiers fire gas bombs on schoolchildren in Jerusalem.
Local sources said extremists from Beitar Illit illegal colony, drove their motorcycles on a bypass road that was recently paved as part of an electricity network for the colony, and fired dozens of rounds of live ammunition.
The attack targeted homes in the Schools Street, and the al-‘Ein neighborhood; no injuries were reported.
Residents from Nahhalin said Israeli fanatics recently escalated their attacks against them, and their property, and uprooted farmlands in addition to flooding the lands with wastewater, and throwing stones on Palestinian cars.
In addition, soldiers fired several gas bombs on Palestinian schoolchildren in the at-Tour town, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, causing scores of children to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Local sources said extremists from Beitar Illit illegal colony, drove their motorcycles on a bypass road that was recently paved as part of an electricity network for the colony, and fired dozens of rounds of live ammunition.
The attack targeted homes in the Schools Street, and the al-‘Ein neighborhood; no injuries were reported.
Residents from Nahhalin said Israeli fanatics recently escalated their attacks against them, and their property, and uprooted farmlands in addition to flooding the lands with wastewater, and throwing stones on Palestinian cars.
In addition, soldiers fired several gas bombs on Palestinian schoolchildren in the at-Tour town, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, causing scores of children to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation.
23 feb 2015
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) prevented Monday Palestinian children from having access to their kindergarten near the Ibrahimi mosque in al-Khalil.
Local sources confirmed that IOF soldiers stationed near the mosque prevented the children from entering the kindergarten and forced them to stay out despite the very cold weather, while allowing in the meantime the settlers’ free movement in the area.
Palestinian citizens in al-Khalil are daily subjected to harassment and assaults as they are forced to pass through four military checkpoints equipped with electronic gates blocking the roads leading to the Ibrahimi mosque.
Also in al-Khalil, two citizens were nabbed on Monday during an Israeli raid and search campaign in the city.
The IOF transferred the two detainees to unknown detention centers after patrolling the city's streets and neighborhoods.
Local sources confirmed that IOF soldiers stationed near the mosque prevented the children from entering the kindergarten and forced them to stay out despite the very cold weather, while allowing in the meantime the settlers’ free movement in the area.
Palestinian citizens in al-Khalil are daily subjected to harassment and assaults as they are forced to pass through four military checkpoints equipped with electronic gates blocking the roads leading to the Ibrahimi mosque.
Also in al-Khalil, two citizens were nabbed on Monday during an Israeli raid and search campaign in the city.
The IOF transferred the two detainees to unknown detention centers after patrolling the city's streets and neighborhoods.
11 feb 2015
About 1,000 students from the Gaza Strip, who are studying at universities abroad, have been stranded in Gaza since last summer’s war with Israel, Haaretz newspaper said Wednesday.
“The students, whose studies and, in some cases, scholarships have been jeopardized by their failure to return to their campuses, are among some 8,000 Gazans on the Palestinian Interior Ministry’s waiting list of those who wish to go abroad if Rafah crossing is opened.”
“Other than in exceptional cases, since 1997 Israel has not allowed Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip to go overseas by traversing Israel.”
The newspaper pointed out that Rafah crossing is Gaza’s sole gate for the outside world.
Due to the frequent closure of Rafah crossing and the unstable security situation in Sinai, thousands of people are still waiting to leave through Rafah crossing.
According to Haaretz, Israel has agreed to meet Palestinian Authority's demand to allow 150 university students to leave to Jordan during January through Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing.
Haaretz noted, however, that only 38 students crossed into Israel and left through the border with Jordan, while the rest had passed through Rafah crossing.
“Palestinian Authority also asks Israel to allow 100 other stranded students to leave through Jordan crossing.”
The delay in their departure from Gaza in some cases could result in the loss of their scholarships and residence permits, the newspaper said.
Majdi Ismail, a student from Gaza, told Haaretz that he is worried that he would lose his scholarship and residence permit to study medicine in Tunisia if he is not allowed to travel by the end of this month. He planned to leave in August of last year, but his plans were scuttled by last summer's war.
“The students, whose studies and, in some cases, scholarships have been jeopardized by their failure to return to their campuses, are among some 8,000 Gazans on the Palestinian Interior Ministry’s waiting list of those who wish to go abroad if Rafah crossing is opened.”
“Other than in exceptional cases, since 1997 Israel has not allowed Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip to go overseas by traversing Israel.”
The newspaper pointed out that Rafah crossing is Gaza’s sole gate for the outside world.
Due to the frequent closure of Rafah crossing and the unstable security situation in Sinai, thousands of people are still waiting to leave through Rafah crossing.
According to Haaretz, Israel has agreed to meet Palestinian Authority's demand to allow 150 university students to leave to Jordan during January through Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing.
Haaretz noted, however, that only 38 students crossed into Israel and left through the border with Jordan, while the rest had passed through Rafah crossing.
“Palestinian Authority also asks Israel to allow 100 other stranded students to leave through Jordan crossing.”
The delay in their departure from Gaza in some cases could result in the loss of their scholarships and residence permits, the newspaper said.
Majdi Ismail, a student from Gaza, told Haaretz that he is worried that he would lose his scholarship and residence permit to study medicine in Tunisia if he is not allowed to travel by the end of this month. He planned to leave in August of last year, but his plans were scuttled by last summer's war.
8 feb 2015
Today, on February 8th, 2015, the signing ceremony was held in the Representative Office of Japan to the PA in Ramallah for the project for "Improving Lavatory Facilities in Three Public Schools in Hebron". The contract was signed by Mr. Junya Matsuura, Ambassador for the Palestinian Affairs and the Representative of Japan to the PA and Dr. Abdel Rahman Al-Tamimi, General Director of Palestine Hydrology Group (PHG). This project is funded by the Government of Japan through the Japan's Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP).
The grant of US $ 101,751 extended to PHG will be utilized for the construction and improving the lavatory facilities at two schools, Al Huda girls' school in Yatta and Al Sakhra mixed school in Halhoul, in addition to the construction of 100 cubic meter cistern in Al-Ameer Qais girls' school in Tarqumiya. This project will provide appropriate and healthy educational environment for all students and teachers by improving the sanitary and hygiene environment in the three schools. It is also expected that this project will raise students' and teachers' awareness on suitable sanitary and hygiene control and contribute in the prevention of diseases infections.
Mr. Matsuura emphasized Japan's firm commitment of supporting Palestinian people from human security perspective as well as the importance of implementing social and economic development projects needed for Palestinian communities.
Since 1993 the Government of Japan has extended its official development assistance exceeding $1.6 billion, to the Palestinians. GGP projects have been formulated in collaboration with the Palestinian Authority through MoPAD since 2010.
The grant of US $ 101,751 extended to PHG will be utilized for the construction and improving the lavatory facilities at two schools, Al Huda girls' school in Yatta and Al Sakhra mixed school in Halhoul, in addition to the construction of 100 cubic meter cistern in Al-Ameer Qais girls' school in Tarqumiya. This project will provide appropriate and healthy educational environment for all students and teachers by improving the sanitary and hygiene environment in the three schools. It is also expected that this project will raise students' and teachers' awareness on suitable sanitary and hygiene control and contribute in the prevention of diseases infections.
Mr. Matsuura emphasized Japan's firm commitment of supporting Palestinian people from human security perspective as well as the importance of implementing social and economic development projects needed for Palestinian communities.
Since 1993 the Government of Japan has extended its official development assistance exceeding $1.6 billion, to the Palestinians. GGP projects have been formulated in collaboration with the Palestinian Authority through MoPAD since 2010.
5 feb 2015
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) raided a secondary school located between Laban and Sawiya towns to the south of Nablus city.
Speaking to the PIC reporter, the school’s headmaster Adnan Hussein said that three Israeli military vehicles surrounded the school on Wednesday morning.
Israeli forces were heavily deployed in the school’s vicinity before breaking into it despite the students' presence in their classes, he added.
Tear gas and sound bombs were fired in the main yard and at classes, which led to a state of extreme anxiety among the students. No injuries were reported during the raid.
Nearly 400 students were evacuated after the suspension of the school day, the headmaster pointed out.
An Israeli officer has threatened to carry out arrest campaigns and more break-ins into the school in case stone-throwing incidents continued against IOF soldiers and settlers in the area.
The local secondary school has been frequently subjected to similar break-ins and attacks after alleged stone throwing attacks were reported against Israeli forces or settlers.
In this regard, Hussein appealed to the Palestinian Ministry of Education and human rights institutions to protect the students’ lives and safety.
Speaking to the PIC reporter, the school’s headmaster Adnan Hussein said that three Israeli military vehicles surrounded the school on Wednesday morning.
Israeli forces were heavily deployed in the school’s vicinity before breaking into it despite the students' presence in their classes, he added.
Tear gas and sound bombs were fired in the main yard and at classes, which led to a state of extreme anxiety among the students. No injuries were reported during the raid.
Nearly 400 students were evacuated after the suspension of the school day, the headmaster pointed out.
An Israeli officer has threatened to carry out arrest campaigns and more break-ins into the school in case stone-throwing incidents continued against IOF soldiers and settlers in the area.
The local secondary school has been frequently subjected to similar break-ins and attacks after alleged stone throwing attacks were reported against Israeli forces or settlers.
In this regard, Hussein appealed to the Palestinian Ministry of Education and human rights institutions to protect the students’ lives and safety.
3 feb 2015
Violent clashes broke out Monday evening in Tur town i occupied Jerusalem when Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) were deployed in large numbers in the vicinity of a local school.
Wadi al-Hilweh Information Center reported that IOF soldiers were stationed near the school while students were leaving their classes after the end of the school day, which led to the outbreak of confrontation in the area.
A 10-year-old boy was arrested during the clashes for allegedly stoning Israeli soldiers. By-passers tried to release him but in vain.
Two other young men were also nabbed amid heavy fire of tear gas bombs towards the students while leaving the school.
Along the same line, the center quoted Addameer Foundation as stating that two Jerusalemite children were nabbed in Silwan town after the school day had ended.
Wadi al-Hilweh Information Center reported that IOF soldiers were stationed near the school while students were leaving their classes after the end of the school day, which led to the outbreak of confrontation in the area.
A 10-year-old boy was arrested during the clashes for allegedly stoning Israeli soldiers. By-passers tried to release him but in vain.
Two other young men were also nabbed amid heavy fire of tear gas bombs towards the students while leaving the school.
Along the same line, the center quoted Addameer Foundation as stating that two Jerusalemite children were nabbed in Silwan town after the school day had ended.
24 jan 2015
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) fired Saturday tear gas and stun grenades towards a school in al-Khalil.
Local sources said the IOF firing targeted students and staff in Al-Khalil Primary School on the first day of the second academic semester.
The sources added that Israeli soldiers were deployed in the vicinity of the school and no confrontation was reported.
Four Palestinian minors were arrested in the Old City of al-Khalil with no justification, the sources told the PIC reporter. They are Muhanad Idris, Hijazi Edais, Hashem Dofash and Amjad Erfaiyeh. All of the juveniles are 16 – 17 years old.
Local sources said the IOF firing targeted students and staff in Al-Khalil Primary School on the first day of the second academic semester.
The sources added that Israeli soldiers were deployed in the vicinity of the school and no confrontation was reported.
Four Palestinian minors were arrested in the Old City of al-Khalil with no justification, the sources told the PIC reporter. They are Muhanad Idris, Hijazi Edais, Hashem Dofash and Amjad Erfaiyeh. All of the juveniles are 16 – 17 years old.
15 jan 2015
Approximately ten Israeli settlers stormed Wednesday a secondary school in Tur neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem and fired tear gas and sound bombs into it under Israeli police protection.
Head of the follow-up committee in Tur neighborhood Mufid Abu Ghannam confirmed that ten Jewish settlers stormed the school Wednesday afternoon while the students were leaving their classes.
The students panicked at the attack and started shouting and screaming, forcing the settlers and soldiers to withdraw from the school amid heavy fire of tear gas bombs.
Israeli forces, in their turn, fired heavy volleys of live bullets into the air to scare the students, he added.
Beit Orot settlers have twice tried to break into the school on previous days; however the local residents confronted them and forced them to withdraw, Abu Ghannam pointed out.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed under heavy tear gas bombs the nearby girls' elementary school under the pretext of looking for a wanted person.
Head of the follow-up committee in Tur neighborhood Mufid Abu Ghannam confirmed that ten Jewish settlers stormed the school Wednesday afternoon while the students were leaving their classes.
The students panicked at the attack and started shouting and screaming, forcing the settlers and soldiers to withdraw from the school amid heavy fire of tear gas bombs.
Israeli forces, in their turn, fired heavy volleys of live bullets into the air to scare the students, he added.
Beit Orot settlers have twice tried to break into the school on previous days; however the local residents confronted them and forced them to withdraw, Abu Ghannam pointed out.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed under heavy tear gas bombs the nearby girls' elementary school under the pretext of looking for a wanted person.
2 jan 2015
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By 10:30 am on Tuesday morning of December 30, Palestinian children attending school near Qeitun checkpoint in al-Khalil (Hebron) had endured over forty tear gas canisters, multiple rounds of rubber coated steel bullets and stun grenades, and the arrest of a twelve-year-old boy.
Israeli forces fired down the road leading from the checkpoint to the schools, filling the street adjacent to the schools with a choking cloud of gas and preventing Palestinians walking through the checkpoint from continuing down the street. As it is exam season in al-Khalil’s schools, children were attempting to reach school between seven and eight am and leaving again between nine thirty and eleven. Israeli military forces kept up a sporadic barrage of fire from the time some children were still walking to |
school until after school finished, forcing anyone traveling in either direction to brave whistling tear gas canisters and the dizzying smoke which still lingered even after the shooting had halted.
Early in the morning, Israeli occupation forces grabbed the twelve-year-old near the checkpoint, accusing him of throwing stones. Eyewitnesses present at the scene denied the accusation. After they took the young boy away to the police station, Israeli army and border police advanced further down the road away from the checkpoint, heavily armed with tear gas, stun grenades, and the long rifles used for firing rubber coated steel bullets. Sometimes they fired systematically, setting off five or more rounds of tear gas at a time; at other times it seemed bizarrely random, as when a single border policeman would suddenly run up the street and fire off a tear gas grenade at the distant crowd of children.
In between assaults, when the Israeli military temporarily halted their fire, young boys kicked stun grenades around and tried to squash tear gas grenades with their shoes. Many of them were stuck, waiting behind and among the soldiers as lingering clouds of tear gas fogged the road in front of their school. Looking down the road from near the military’s position to where the tear gas was landing, one could catch glimpses of the impacts: a small child coughing, a teacher dodging the falling tear gas canisters.
Israeli forces advanced down the main road, standing menacingly across it and also occupying the corners of side-streets, aiming their rifles up towards nearby neighbourhoods. Some stood far down the street, partly hidden by a parked car, in the same location where Israeli border police had arrested a seventeen-year-old boy a couple of weeks earlier. “They look like they’re in a war zone,” one ISM activist commented at the scene, “but what they’re aiming at is five-year-olds.”
As some of the ISM activists walked home, travelling up through the souk (market) in al-Khalil’s Old City, they asked if the tear gas from the area around Qeitun checkpoint had reached all the way up to the shops. “Not too much today,” one shop owner replied. He asked how the activists were. After they gave a brief summery of their morning, he responded matter-of-factly: “there’s always tear gas down there.”
It is a fact of life in al-Khalil – one which perfectly illustrates the senseless, violent injustice so characteristic of the zionist occupation. This morning is only one of countless violent mornings and afternoons these children will face along their everyday route to school. Military assaults and checkpoints are as familiar to them as their daily assignments and schoolbooks. These repeated attacks expose the absurd lengths to which the Israeli occupation has invaded the lives of Palestinians, when even the road to school becomes a battlefield.
Early in the morning, Israeli occupation forces grabbed the twelve-year-old near the checkpoint, accusing him of throwing stones. Eyewitnesses present at the scene denied the accusation. After they took the young boy away to the police station, Israeli army and border police advanced further down the road away from the checkpoint, heavily armed with tear gas, stun grenades, and the long rifles used for firing rubber coated steel bullets. Sometimes they fired systematically, setting off five or more rounds of tear gas at a time; at other times it seemed bizarrely random, as when a single border policeman would suddenly run up the street and fire off a tear gas grenade at the distant crowd of children.
In between assaults, when the Israeli military temporarily halted their fire, young boys kicked stun grenades around and tried to squash tear gas grenades with their shoes. Many of them were stuck, waiting behind and among the soldiers as lingering clouds of tear gas fogged the road in front of their school. Looking down the road from near the military’s position to where the tear gas was landing, one could catch glimpses of the impacts: a small child coughing, a teacher dodging the falling tear gas canisters.
Israeli forces advanced down the main road, standing menacingly across it and also occupying the corners of side-streets, aiming their rifles up towards nearby neighbourhoods. Some stood far down the street, partly hidden by a parked car, in the same location where Israeli border police had arrested a seventeen-year-old boy a couple of weeks earlier. “They look like they’re in a war zone,” one ISM activist commented at the scene, “but what they’re aiming at is five-year-olds.”
As some of the ISM activists walked home, travelling up through the souk (market) in al-Khalil’s Old City, they asked if the tear gas from the area around Qeitun checkpoint had reached all the way up to the shops. “Not too much today,” one shop owner replied. He asked how the activists were. After they gave a brief summery of their morning, he responded matter-of-factly: “there’s always tear gas down there.”
It is a fact of life in al-Khalil – one which perfectly illustrates the senseless, violent injustice so characteristic of the zionist occupation. This morning is only one of countless violent mornings and afternoons these children will face along their everyday route to school. Military assaults and checkpoints are as familiar to them as their daily assignments and schoolbooks. These repeated attacks expose the absurd lengths to which the Israeli occupation has invaded the lives of Palestinians, when even the road to school becomes a battlefield.
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