Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 
Israeli Occupation Forces Storm Al-Khalil Villages, Attack Protesters and Detainees, Escalate Uprooting of Olive Trees

IOF troops storm Al-Khalil (Hebron) villages

[ 18/03/2012 - 11:01 AM ]

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)--

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed a number of villages in Al-Khalil (Hebron) province and Fawar refugee camp south of the city before dawn Sunday.

Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that the soldiers stormed the camp and used police dogs in combing it.

They said that an infantry unit accompanied the IOF troops in combing the camp and installed roadblocks in its center.

Local sources said that IOF soldiers stormed three villages near Al-Khalil and fired stun grenades in one of them but no arrests were reported.

Report registers escalation in targeting olive trees in West Bank

[ 18/03/2012 - 10:43 AM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)--

The national bureau in defense of land and to resist settlement said that Jewish settlers and soldiers have escalated their targeting of olive trees in West Bank land over the past week.

It said in a report on Saturday that Israeli occupation forces and Jewish settlers used bulldozers and other means to uproot hundreds of olive trees in the West Bank areas especially in Salfit, Nablus, and Al-Khalil.

The report said that Israel ignored a report prepared by ambassadors of the European Union to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah that criticized attacks on Palestinian citizens and land, and accelerated settlement activity and Judaization of Jerusalem.

It noted that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu announced numerous settlement projects in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem the latest of which was approving the construction of 50000 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem over the coming decade.

Six-year-old child wounded in IOF shooting

[ 18/03/2012 - 09:22 AM ]

RAFAH, (PIC)--

A six-year-old Palestinian child was wounded on Sunday morning when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired at residential quarters east of Rafah to the south of the Gaza Strip.

The higher committee for ambulance and emergency said that the child Suhaib Sultan was hit with a bullet in his right thigh.

It described his condition as “moderate”, adding that IOF soldiers on nearby watchtowers opened indiscriminate fire at the citizens’ homes in the vicinity of Gaza international airport.

Israeli Occupation Soldiers Broke Into Detention Camps 6 Times Last Week

Saturday March 17, 2012 10:01 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian Researcher specialized in detainees’ affair, Riyadh Al-Ashqar, stated that Israeli occupation soldiers broke into prisons and detention centers six times last week, attacked and violated the rights of the Palestinian detainees, and wounded eleven.

Al-Ashqar stated, Friday, that under-cover forces of the Israeli army broke into six main detention centers, where Palestinian political prisoners are held, and transferred more than 200 detainees to different prisons and detention centers, in addition to placing eight detainees in solitary confinement, and imposed further restrictions on the detainees.

Soldiers fired gas bombs at the detainees, and attacked them with batons; eleven detainees were injured, some of them suffered concussions and fractures, while others suffocated after inhaling gas fired by the army.

One of the detainees, identified as Fares Khalifa, required hospitalization after he was repeatedly beaten by the soldiers, and was bleeding from his forehead. Some of the wounded detainees were identified as Ziad Zahran, Malek Al-Jallad, Mohammad Nuwwara, Hamza Al-Khmour, Ziad As-Seelawi and Eyad Fatafta.

The army broke into sections 14 and 16 in Ofer prison, cuffed the detainees and placed them in small rooms before violently searching their rooms causing damage to the detainees’ property.

Soldiers also sprayed teargas at the detainees in the two sections after they objected to the misstatement they face, and the humiliation they encountered by the soldiers who cuffed and searched them.

The detainees complained after the army cut water supplies in the two sections, and confiscated the detainee’s cooking supplies, before attacking and handcuffing them for several hours.

The Nahshon and Mitzada Brigades of the Israeli army also broke into the detainees’ rooms in Nafha prison and transferred all detainees, held in section eleven, to the Galboa’ and Ramon prisons without even allowing them to take their clothes and belongings with them.

In a separate attack against the detainees in Nafha, soldiers of the Mitzada Brigade surrounded the detainees who were in the prison yard, and held them for several hours as they holding a protest against the harsh treatment, and repeated violations.

The prison administration then decided to bar the detainees from their visitation rights for a month, and confiscated all electrical equipment from their rooms, and decided to keep them confined in their rooms for a full week, with a one-hour a day break.

Soldiers further broke into the Galboa’ prison during visitation hour while dozens of families were waiting in front of the prisoner hoping to be allowed to visit their detained loved ones, but instead, witnessed the soldiers in full riot gear, preparing to break into the detainee’s rooms; the families were denied their visitation right and were forced to leave the prison compound.

For the second time in less than two days, soldiers broke into the Asqalan prison and transferred all Hamas detainees to the Ramon and Eshil prisons without allowing them to pack their clothes and personal belongings.

Al-Ashqar said that the detainees announced that they will be escalating their non-violent struggle and that they are determined to remain steadfast until achieving their internationally guaranteed rights.

The detainees will be start by conducting hunger-strikes two days a week in the first stage, and are weighing the possibility of conducting civil disobedience against the prison administration.

Al-Ashqar added that the Israeli Prison Authority will likely resort to more violence , adding that he fears that the army will use excessive force against them, especially since the administration does not hesitate in using gas bombs, rubber-coated metal bullets and even live rounds in addition to physically assaulting the detainees with clubs and batons.

He voiced an appeal to human rights groups around the world to intervene “before it is too late”, and called on the Palestinian people and their factions to hold massive protests in support of the detainees.

Former political prisoner, Palestinian Researcher, head of the Census Bureau at the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, stated in a compressive report published on February 12, 2012, that 202 Palestinians detainees were killed in Israeli prisons and interrogation facilities since Israel occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967.

74 of them were executed by the soldiers after they were kidnapped, 7 were shot and killed while in prison, 51 died due to the lack of medical treatment, and 70 died due to excessive torture during interrogation, Farawna stated in his report.

Eight Injured, one Seriously, as Israeli Occupation Troops attack West Bank Anti Wall Protests

Friday March 16, 2012 15:09 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

Eight civilians were injured, one seriously, on Friday, while many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation when Israeli occupation soldiers attacked anti wall protests in a number of West Bank villages.

Protests were organized in the central West Bank villages of Bil’in, Nil’in and al Nabi Saleh.

Eight protesters including one international supporter were injured by Israeli fire at a protest in the village of al Nabi Saleh. The international activist was seriously injured when she was hit with many rubber-coated steel bullets fired by Israeli troops.

al Nabi Saleh villagers and their international and Israeli supporters marched after the midday prayers on Friday to protest Israel’s confiscation of their lands to build a settlement. Troops attacked the march before they even left the village.

Soldiers invaded the villages and fired tear gas into people’s homes; many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. Soldiers also sprayed residents homes with chemical water.

Also on Friday, soldiers used tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets to suppress the anti wall protests at the villages of Bil’in and Nil’in. Many there were also treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.

The Bil’in protest was in solidarity with the recent attacks on Gaza and with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. Nil’in also marked the anniversary of the killing of US activist Rachel Corrie by the Israeli army in Gaza in 2003. Nli‘in also marked the anniversary of the injury of US activist Tristan Anderson. He was shot in the head with a tear gas canister by Israeli troops in Nil’in in March, 2009.

Elsewhere In southern West, villagers of Al Ma’ssara, along with their international and Israeli supporters protested the Israeli wall. Troops stopped protesters at the village entrance before they reached lands owned by local farmers but which Israel confiscated to build the wall on. Later troops forced people back into the village using rifle-butts. No injuries were reported.