Military commanders given power to close Palestinian villages

Israeli policemen patrol a street in the East Jerusalem neighboorhood of Jabel Mukaber following clashes in Jerusalem, Sept. 18, 2015. As they were useless, the neighbourhood will probably be locked in. Photo by Ammar Awad/ AFP

Cabinet approves police closure on Jerusalem, punitive measures

By Ma’an news
October 14, 2015

BETHLEHEM — Israel’s security cabinet approved early Wednesday the revocation of residency status for Palestinians who carry out attacks as well as the police closure of occupied East Jerusalem.

Israeli police are now entitled to “impose a closure on, or to surround, centres of friction and incitement in Jerusalem, in accordance with security considerations,” according to reports by Israeli news site Haaretz.

The cabinet also called in army reinforcements for police in cities and main roads, and 300 security guards are expected to be stationed on and around public transportation. The reinforcements will cost 80 million shekels ($20.6m, £13.7m), the report said.

Also according to the new measures, the permanent residency status of Palestinians who carry out attacks will be revoked and their property confiscated.

Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem are not Israeli citizens and hold the status of “permanent resident.” Israeli policy makes it difficult for Jerusalemite Palestinians to retain the status, and over 14,300 Palestinians have lost residency since 1967 despite being from the area.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem called the Israeli government’s response “the very inverse of what ought to be done” in realistic efforts to stop current violence.

“The events of recent weeks cannot be viewed in a vacuum, isolated from the reality of the ongoing, daily oppression of 4 million people, with no hope of change in sight,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday.

“At present, Israelis are exposed to untenable violence, but the status quo almost all Israelis have come to see as acceptable in fact exposes millions of Palestinians to violence that is a consequence of the very regime of occupation, with its inherent features of oppression, dispossession and the trampling of rights,” B’Tselem added.

The group also criticized the policy pushed by Israeli government officials to “shoot and kill” Palestinians suspected of carrying out an attack. The practice, it said, makes Palestinian lives “forfeit, even when they no longer pose a threat.”

Wednesday’s measures come in the latest attempts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to retain control over tensions that have spiraled in recent weeks.

Yesterday three Israelis were killed and up to 27 injured in four separate attacks across Israel and occupied East Jerusalem. Two suspected Palestinian attackers were shot dead on scene.

Thirty Palestinians have been killed in the occupied Palestinian territory by Israeli forces since Oct. 1, and seven Israelis have been killed in attacks.

Nearly 1,300 Palestinians have been injured by live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets in the same time period.

Ministers Authorize Israeli Army to Impose Closures on Palestinian Villages

Israeli forces subsequently impose closure on Beir Ummar, near Hebron, following car-ramming attack; soldiers, Palestinians clash across West Bank and near Gaza border.

By Barak Ravid, Gili Cohen , Jack Khoury and Almog Ben Zikri, Haaretz
November 27, 2015

The security cabinet on Friday authorized the Israeli army to impose full closures on Palestinian villages in the West Bank while searching for suspected terrorists, a senior official in Jerusalem said.

The cabinet decision taken on Thursday evening allows military commanders to decide whether to impose a closure without waiting for approval from the government.

IDF locks down Beit Ummar, a Palestinian village near Hebron which has long been a target for IDF raids and arrests. Photo of 2011 closure, April 3, by Anne Paq, ActiveStills.

Following the decision, the IDF imposed a closure on the village of Beit Ummar, in the Hebron region, after a Palestinian driver rammed his car into a group of soldiers earlier, wounding five. The assailant was shot and later died of his wounds. The attack took place hours after two soldiers were wounded in a similar incident in the settlement of Kfar Adumim, outside Jerusalem.
Meanwhile on Friday, Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces clashed across the West Bank and near the Gaza border.

Seven Palestinians were wounded by Israel Defence Forces gunfire in the West Bank, near the Halhul-Hebron bridge on Route 35, after trowing firebombs toward security forces, the military said. Another Palestinian was hurt in a similar incident at Beit Fajjar, near Bethlehem.
In both incidents the rioters were shot by Ruger rifles, according to the IDF. The .22 inch caliber sniper rifles are generally non-lethal.

The Red Crescent, however, reported treating 454 wounded Palestinians in the West Bank, 14 of whom were hurt by live gunfire and 85 of whom were shot by rubber bullets. The rest suffered from gas inhalation.

In the Gaza clash, 25 people were wounded, according to both the Israeli military and Palestinian officials.

Israeli forces raid Palestinian homes across Hebron district

>By Ma’an news
November 23, 2015

HEBRON — Israeli forces on Monday afternoon raided Palestinian villages across the southern West Bank district of Hebron, detaining at least six Palestinians and searching for weapons, locals told Ma’an.

Israeli forces were reported to have raided the villages of Idhna, Deir Samit, Beit Awwa, al-Muwarraq and Tarusa, as well as al-Arrub refugee camp.

An Israeli army spokesperson said that Israeli forces performed “routine activities” in Hebron, searching in “open areas” for “concealed weapons.” In Idhna, Israeli forces raided the houses of four brothers, identified as Bilal, Ashraf, Rafat, and Saleh Khalil al-Batran, saying that they were searching for “combat tools.” The brothers told Ma’an that the soldiers had damaged furniture during the raid.

Israeli forces also raided the homes of Mirshed Abd al-Mahdi al-Tmeizi, Nidal Samih Isleimiyyeh, Yahiya Abu Jeheisheh, Omar Talab al-Nattah and Naim Muhammad Isleimiyyeh inside the village, locals said.The Isleimiyyeh family told Ma’an that Naim is currently being held in Israeli custody and Israeli forces confiscated 21,000 shekels ($5,413) from his home during the raid.

Meanwhile, in Tarusa, a small village with a population of less than 100 residents, Israeli forces raided the home of Raed Masalma, who carried out a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on Thursday, killing two Israelis, before he was arrested.Israeli authorities issued a home demolition order to his family, as part of a retaliatory policy that rights groups have argued constitutes “collective punishment.”

In Beit Awwa, Israeli forces raided a municipality building and several homes, while closing off the entrances to the village with dirt mounds, barring traffic from entering or leaving, locals said.In al-Arrub refugee camp, Israeli forces closed the camp’s entrances, preventing residents from entering or exiting within vehicles during the raid.Locals said that Israeli forces also detained Naim Aziz Rushdi and Nour al-Din Badran Jawabreh, a high school student, from the camp while they were there.