On the Agenda

B’Tselem staff and board members send their deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to our colleague from the Gaza Strip, Khaled al-‘Azayzeh, on the passing of his mother Fatmah Hassan al-'Azayzeh, at the age of 91.
May her memory be a blessing. 

On Sunday, 2 May 2021, around 8:30 A.M., Fahmeyeh al-Hrub (60), from Husan, walked slowly towards soldiers at the Gush Etzion junction, holding a knife. When she did not respond to their calls to stop or a shot fired in the air, she was shot from a distance where she posed no danger to them. She was later pronounced dead at a Jerusalem hospital. This conduct is a true reflection of the open fire policy in such cases which allows lethal fire at any Palestinian holding a knife, regardless of the level of danger they pose.

In March 2020, Israel announced that as part of its fight against the coronavirus, it would reduce even further the number of Palestinians permitted to leave Gaza for medical care. Permit numbers also dropped as patients feared travel during the pandemic and the PA halted coordination with Israeli authorities. Israel, which is responsible for the dire state of Gaza’s healthcare system and for holding Gazans effectively imprisoned, avoided its duty to provide solutions and allow sick residents access to the care they need.

After midnight on 6 April 2021, soldiers set up a flying checkpoint on the road from Bir Nabala to al-Jib and opened fire at Osama and Sumayah Mansur, who were driving back from the doctor, killing Osama. B’Tselem’s investigation found that despite the military’s announcement of a car-ramming attack, the driver had stopped at the checkpoint and, after a brief argument, resumed driving in a lane with no soldiers. Based on years of experience, the MPIU investigation launched is likely to serve merely as a fig leaf to whitewash the killing.

On Friday, 2 April 2021, around 5:30 P.M., Mu’taz Zaru (13) from the a-Sahala neighborhood in Hebron went out to ride his bicycle but discovered it was gone. A friend told him a Border Police officer they know had photographed the thief. When Mu’taz asked the officer, he mocked him and then pepper-sprayed him in the face. This incident is no aberration. It is part of daily life for Palestinians in Hebron, who routinely suffer violence at the hands of Israeli security forces.

On 19 March 21, residents of Beit Dajan held their weekly protest against an outpost built on their land and related settler violence. ‘Atef Hanayshi, one of several protestors who were throwing stones at soldiers dispersing the protest, came within several dozen meters of a soldier – who shot and killed him, even though he was not in mortal danger. Hanayshi is the 39th person killed in the West Bank since 2015 by Israeli security forces’ unjustified live fire at Palestinians who threw stones or were suspected of throwing stones.

B’Tselem is publishing the results of its new commissioned public opinion survey. The survey, conducted by Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin and Dr. Khalil Shikaki, took a fresh approach by examining what all people living under Israeli control – Israeli and Palestinian citizens and Palestinian subjects in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip (WBG&EJ) –think about the current situation, their lives and the future, analyzed as a single population unit, rather than two separate populations.

On 21 Feb. 2021, soldiers arrested brothers Aws (10) and Muhammad (8) Salah a-Din from Hizma, who were riding bicycles by their home, and accused them of throwing stones. They handcuffed the children and held them for hours, including inside a military base, before handing them over to the Palestinian police, and ultimately to their father, at night. Arresting children below the age of criminal responsibility, holding them in handcuffs and not informing them or their parents when they will be released, is both illegal and immoral.

Five Palestinians aged 9 to 13 were picking wild greens near the outpost of Havat Ma’on when two settlers approached and they fled. Soldiers chased and arrested them, although most are below the age of criminal responsiblity. The cavalier approach of senior officers, who overlook the imperative to avoid the traumatic arrest of children unless crucial, cannot be justified. Israel’s view of the arrest and even prosecution of Palestinian children as an acceptable routine defies the basic tenets of justice and the provisions of international law.

On 1 March 2021, Israeli police forces raided the ‘Obeid home in the neighborhood of al-‘Esawiyah, violently assaulting Marwan ‘Obeid and arresting his son, Tareq. The police also sprayed foul-smelling liquid along the streets and inside a house. ‘Obeid was taken to hospital for bruising following his interrogation, and released under house arrest after posting bail. The ongoing police violence in al-‘Esawiyah is another facet of Israel’s oppression of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, aimed at driving them out and maintaining a Jewish majority.