Ahmad Mustafa Erekat

June 23, 2020: Ahmad Mustafa Erekat, 26, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at the “Container” military roadblock, northeast of Bethlehem, while he was preparing for his sister’s wedding that was scheduled to take place later that day.

The soldiers claimed that Ahmad ‘tried to ram them with his car’ – a claim that his family says is beyond ridiculous.

The head of Abu Dis Town Council, Ahmad Abu Hilal, said the soldiers shot Ahmad with multiple rounds, and left him to bleed to death, before taking his corpse away.

Abu Hilal added that Ahmad was driving to Bethlehem city to fetch his sisters and his mother from a hairdressing shop in Bethlehem, as the family was preparing for the wedding of one of his sisters, which was supposed to take place on the same day, Tuesday, June 23 2019.

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Eyewitnesses said the soldiers at the permanent military roadblock closed the area, and prevented Red Crescent medics from approaching the young man, in addition to firing many gas bombs at Palestinian cars and residents to force them away.

The Israeli army alleged that the young man “accelerated towards the roadblock, and attempted to ram a female soldier with his car,” and added that the soldier reportedly suffered mild wounds before she was moved to a hospital in Jerusalem.

The spokesperson of the Israel police, Micky Rosenfeld, claimed that “after trying to ram the soldiers, the young man got out of his vehicle, and approached them before they shot him.”

The family denied the military allegations and said the soldiers rushed to shoot Ahmad without any justification, and added that they believe their slain son must have lost control over his car.

“As we have seen in previous similar incidents, the soldiers were quick to open deadly fire,” his family said, “Our son would never have tried to deliberately ram soldiers, or anybody else, especially on the day of his sister’s wedding!”

They added that they intend to hire a lawyer to demand Israel to release his corpse for burial.

Palestinian journalist Christine Rimawi said that the slain Palestinian was a Facebook friend and that he himself was preparing to get married soon.

“Today’s victim, Ahmad Mustafa Erekat, 27, was executed by the soldiers at the Container roadblock, and the army was ready with its familiar allegation of attempted ramming attack, Christine stated, “But the truth is that he was just going to Bethlehem to fetch his mother and sisters from a hairdressing salon when the soldiers shot him and left him to bleed to death,” she added.

“He was getting ready for the celebration, for his sister’s wedding! He was shot and killed instead! Can you imagine what this wedding has turned into?! Not only that today is his sister’s wedding. His own wedding was supposed to take place soon!”

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a statement strongly denouncing the escalating Israeli violations and the “cold-blooded murder of Ahmad at the racist deathtrap roadblocks.”

“This crime is part of Israel’s ongoing policies; this illegal authority of the Israeli occupation continues to commit crimes against our people, including field executions, and extrajudicial assassinations,” the Ministry stated, “All of these policies and crimes, committed by the police, the army, and the paramilitary colonialist settlers, are targeting the Palestinian civilians, their homes and lands, and are aimed at trying to force us out of our ancestral lands.”

The Ministry also stated that it will file a complaint with the United Nations, and all its related institutions, as part of its constant efforts to document the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, including the murder of Ahmad Erekat.

It called on the International Community, the United Nations, and the Security Council, to act on providing immediate protection to the Palestinian people, living under the illegal Israeli military occupation, and to implement the basics of International Law.

“Our people urgently need protection, the International Community; the United Nations must act and end these escalating Israeli crimes,” it added, “The criminal Israeli occupation of Palestine continues to target innocent civilians. Silence is complicity!”

Video By Palestine TV

Ahmad was from Abu Dis, in the central West Bank. Source: IMEMC

Omar Yaghi

June 18th, 2020: Omar Yaghi, 8 months, died of lack of treatment for a medical condition when he was denied a permit by Israeli authorities who run the West Bank and Gaza under martial law.

The Israeli Annexation Plan, announced last month by Israeli authorities, and put into practice this month, has apparently claimed its first victim, as a Palestinian baby scheduled for a lifesaving operation in Israel.

An eight-month-old infant from the Gaza Strip was the first to die under this new system of closure and annexation – but the Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) warn that he will not be the last.

Omar Yaghi, with a cardiac condition, died on Thursday after Israeli military officials denied his family the access to go to Israel for his scheduled May 24th surgery at Sheba Medical Center.

The stated reason for the denial of his travel was the cessation of coordination between the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee (PCAC) – a part of the Palestinian Authority (PA) – and the Israeli military authorities which control all access to the West Bank and Gaza, and all internal roadways and travel.

Israeli authorities have long used an antiquated and nearly-impossible to navigate ‘permit’ system which requires Palestinians who need medical care to go to a military base and wait for hours or days to try to get a permit to reach the hospital. This system has cost hundreds of lives over the years, and now, with the Palestinian Authority pulling its implicit consent for this martial law, there are no permits being issued and therefore, no travel for medical care.

The problem lies not with the Palestinian Authority, however, as most media have tried to claim, but with Israel, which has an obligation under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention to provide the means for the population under its military’s occupation since 1967 to be allowed freedom of access to medical care.

According to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI), “In recent days, we have seen a spike in requests for help from Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank who need medical treatment that is not available locally. These patients, some in critical condition and who require life-saving treatment, have told us that the Palestinian agencies in charge of liaising with the Israeli authorities have stopped transferring exit permit applications that were submitted for medical reasons.

“Patients further reported that the Palestinian Ministry of Health refuses to refer them to Israeli hospitals or cover the cost of treatment in Israel. Consequently, Israeli hospitals have refused to admit back organ transplant patients who have returned to their homes for post-surgery rehabilitation.

“Among the people affected are two leukemia patients from Nablus aged 25 and 46, whose routine treatment at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem was halted over lack of coverage by the Palestinian Authority; a 37-year-old lung transplant patient who stopped receiving care at Beilinson Hospital as the Palestinian Ministry of Health refused to cover the 900 Shekel per-visit cost; an eight-month-old baby with a heart condition from the Gaza Strip who has been unable to travel for treatment at Sheba Hospital because the Palestinian Civilian Affairs Committee refuses to forward an exit permit application for him and a 24-year-old woman from the Gaza Strip who requires ongoing treatment for orthopedic issues and whose application for a permit was denied by the Palestinian coordination. ”

The Israeli human rights group concludes, “Given the fact that Israel controls the area, the crossings and the living conditions of the Palestinian population, and since Israel instituted the failed permit system, it shoulders the responsibility to find a quick solution to enable patients to travel freely to receive medical treatment. Most patients in the Gaza Strip travel for treatment in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and their health must not be affected. We are on the brink of medical chaos. Right now, hundreds are affected. Thousands will be affected soon.”

It is worth mentioning that the child had an appointment scheduled for May 24th, at Tal HaShomer Israeli Medical Center, but when no permit to leave Gaza was issued, the appointment was rescheduled for June 21st.

His condition then worsened, and he was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit of the Rantisi Hospital in Gaza, and he died at dawn of June 18th.

Omar was from the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC