ISRAELI forces early on Thursday detained four Palestinians from several West Bank districts.
Two Palestinians were detained from Jericho, another from Jerusalem and one from Jenin. Israeli forces raided al-’Auja town to the north of Jericho, where they detained two Palestinians after breaking into and ransacking their homes. The detainees were identified as Nassar Ifraijat, 55, and his son, Ashraf.
Israeli police detained a Palestinian student while he was heading to his school via Bab Al-Nazer, which leads to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The detainee was identified as Khalil Abu Tayeh, 17. In Jenin district, forces detained a Palestinian after breaking into and ransacking his house in Ya’bad town to the southwest of Jenin. The detainee was identified as Ibrahim Abu Baker, 21.
Both Tayeh and Abu Baker are expected to be held under administrative detention. Palestinian detainees are placed under administrative detention without trial or charge for a six-month period that can be renewed indefinitely and without having access to the ‘evidence’ for their detention.
Administrative detention has been strongly criticised by international, Israeli and Palestinian human rights activists and organisations.
Many Palestinians have gone on hunger strike as a means to protest being held without charge or trial. During the month of August, Israel agreed to suspend the administrative detention of Palestinian detainee Muhammad Allan following a 66-day hunger strike. Another Palestinan detainee, Khader Adnan, was released in July after going on a 56-day hunger strike to protest over his administrative detention that brought him close to death.
On Wednesday night Israeli extremists spray-painted racist graffiti on the walls of ar-Rahma Islamic cemetery outside Jerusalem’s Old City. Shortly after Islamic Waqf (the trust which controls and manages Islamic edifices around the al-Aqsa Mosque) personnel discovered the racist anti-Arab graffiti, they attempted to remove it, but were prevented from continuing their work by Israeli police.
Fifty Palestinian women protested on Thursday morning at the gates leading to al-Aqsa Mosque after they were denied entry to the holy site by Israeli police, who had earlier allowed Zionist fanatics to resume their provocative visits to the Islamic holy site. Violence by specific groups of illegal Israeli settlers is commonplace, repeatedly attacking Palestinian property and worship places.
Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others. On July 31, a group of Zionist fanatics killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and seriously injured his entire family, during a predawn arson attack which targeted two homes in the village of Duma, south of Nablus.
The baby’s father, Sa’ad Dawabsheh, died of his injuries at an Israeli hospital about a week later, while his mother, Riham, 27, died of her wounds a week ago. According to the OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) Protection of Civilians Weekly Report, covering the period between 18 and 24 August 2015: ‘Five Israeli settler attacks resulting in injury to Palestinians or property damage were recorded, including the stoning and injury of a six-year-old girl and vandalism to a souvenir shop, both near Al Ibrahimi Mosque in the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron city.’
The Al-Haq human rights organisation stated: ‘Attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank against members of the Palestinian population and their property are an extensive, long-term, and worsening phenomenon,’ while the Israeli information centre for human rights, B’Tselem, said that during August alone, the Israeli Civil Administration and military went on a demolition rampage in 29 villages and communities throughout Area C, which is under full Israeli military control.
In a report issued by the centre on September 2015, B’Tselem said the Israeli authorities demolished 101 structures in the aforementioned communities, including 50 residential structures, which were home to 228 people, 124 of them are minors.
‘Many of these demolitions were carried out in small shepherding and farming communities where residents are constantly subject to threats and ongoing Israeli attempts to drive them out of their homes and also remove them from Area C, as part of the Israeli policy aimed at minimising the Palestinian presence in Area C,’ stated the centre.
Between 5 and 31 August 2015, B’Tselem documented demolitions carried out by the Civil Administration and the military in nine communities in the Jordan Valley, including in al-Aqabah, Ein al-Meyteh, Khirbet Yarza, Khirbet Humsah, Abu al-Ajaj, Fasayil, Khirbet Einun, Khirbet Samrah and Khirbet a-Deir, where the authorities destroyed 22 residential units, rendering 100 people – including 50 minors – homeless.
Over the years, Israeli government and military officials have openly spoken about their intention to keep the Jordan Valley under Israeli control even under a future agreement with the Palestinians, said the centre, stressing that, ‘The recent demolitions are part of this policy.’
The centre said Israel has never drafted master plans for these communities and residents living in tents and shacks, without running water or a connection to the power grid, under the constant threat of imminent demolition and expulsion.
‘Along with demolitions, Israel also uses other measures to inconvenience residents and ultimately make life in the area impossible, including such steps as declaring 46% of the Jordan Valley a firing zone, temporally forcing families out of their homes to make way to enable military training and confiscating water tanks.’
August also saw Israeli authorities demolishing structures in five communities in the Ma’ale Adumim area, including in a-Sheikh Anbar (a-S’idi), Bir al-Maskub, Wadi Esneisel, Abu Falah and al-Khdeirat.
‘Like the Jordan Valley communities, these communities are not officially recognised either,’ noted the centre.
The centre considered these extensive demolitions as part of Israel’s overall policy toward Area C – which comprises 60% of the West Bank – based on its perception of Area C as meant primarily to serve Israeli needs. Israel works to establish ‘facts on the ground’, creating a reality that would be difficult to change as part of a future agreement.
At the same time, in pursuit of a policy practised by successive Israeli governments, Israeli authorities take action designed to force out and expel Palestinian residents from Area C, citing flimsy legal arguments such as ‘illegal construction’ – an argument that holds no water given that there is no real possibility of building legally, stated B’Tselem.
‘These arguments are meant to obscure the fact that Israel is ignoring its duties as an occupying power, namely allowing West Bank residents to live their lives without disruption and ensuring the development of their communities to a level that allows them to live in dignity and meets their needs.’
This government policy, which has been systematically implemented for years, constitutes the forcible transfer of protected persons inside an occupied territory, be it directly – through the demolition of their homes – or indirectly, by creating an intolerable reality, concluded the centre.
