2019

Nassim Abu Roumi

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August 15, 2019: Nassim Abu Roumi, 14, was shot and killed by Israeli police near the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem after an alleged stabbing of an Israeli police officer that resulted in a light injury.

Nassim was one of the two Palestinian teens, both 14 years old, who were shot and seriously injured near al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem Thursday.

Nassim died of his wounds later that night. The other child who was shot Thursday evening, Hammouda Khader Sheikh, 14, from al-Walaja, south of Jerusalem, is believed to still be in critical condition in an Israeli hospital. Some Palestinian media sources have reported that Hammouda also died of his wounds, but that was not confirmed by IMEMC reporters.

The army and the police fired many live rounds at the two teens, and several Palestinians in the area, moderately wounding two bystanders.

It is worth that Nassim is the son of Mokafih Abu Roumi, a political leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), in Jerusalem.

Israeli soldiers stormed his father’s home, and abducted him shortly after the reported stabbing incident. The Israeli army also summoned the Abu Roumi and Sheikh families for interrogation in a security center between al-Ezariyya and East Jerusalem.

A number of Palestinians were reportedly injured by live ammunition, including a guard for the Al Aqsa Mosque, when Israeli forces opened fire on people in and around the mosque following the alleged stabbing of an Israeli police officer by two unknown assailants.

The Israeli police officer who was injured is reported to be 40 years old, and was taken to the hospital with light injuries. According to the Israeli Ynetnews, he was taken to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

The paper quoted an Israeli medic, Moshe Cordova, as saying, “When we reached the scene, we saw a man who was fully conscious. He had stabbing wounds. We gave him emergency care that included stopping the bleeding and bandaging, and evacuated him to a hospital with light wounds”.

The Al Aqsa Mosque was closed by Israeli troops, who fired live ammunition at worshipers attempting to evacuate the area, according to the Palestinian Wafa News Agency.

This incident follows a recent invasion of the Al Aqsa Mosque by hundreds of right-wing Israeli settlers this past Sunday, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, who forced their way into the mosque on one of the most significant holidays in the Muslim calendar, when tens of thousands of people had gathered to pray at the mosque.

During the scuffles that ensued, 61 Palestinians and 4 Israeli police were reportedly injured, according to the Israeli paper Ha’aretz.

Nassim was from the al-‘Ezariyya town, east of occupied East Jerusalem. Source: IMEMC

Marwan Nassar

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August 12, 2019: Marwan Nassar, 26, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers near the border between Gaza and Israel in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Nassar was not associated with any Palestinian resistance groups, but the Israeli paper Ha’aretz has reported that relatives of Nassar told them that he was a part of the armed wing of Hamas.

The relatives also told the Israeli paper that he was not acting as a representative of Hamas when approaching the border on Sunday, but was acting independently.

Hamas did not take responsibility for the incident.

According to Ha’aretz, the unnamed relative of Nassar told them that he had participated in the weekly protests at the Gaza border, and had been going through a rough period with his family when he decided to carry out an attack against the Israeli military.

No soldiers were reported injured in what Israeli sources claim was an attack against a military border post.

It came one day after four Palestinians were killed on the eastern border of Gaza in what Israeli forces claim was a coordinated attack against the Israeli military.

A week before that, a Palestinian man managed to infiltrate the border and injure three Israeli soldiers before he was killed.

The Gaza Strip is one of the most crowded places on earth, and the 2 million Palestinians living in the Strip are imprisoned on all sides by the Israeli and Egyptian militaries.

Marwan was from Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Abdullah Ashraf al-Ghamri

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August 10, 2019: Abdullah Ashraf al-Ghamri, 19, was one of four Palestinians shot and killed by Israeli forces for allegedly coming too close to the border fence between Gaza and Israel, east of Dir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces stationed along Gaza borders to the east of Dir al-Balah reportedly opened fire on a group of Palestinians after they allegedly approached the Israeli-installed barbed-wire fence along Gaza’s border with Israel, shooting and killing four.

The Israeli army then took their corpses away to an unknown location.

A Facebook page managed by the family of one of the slain Palestinians said the four have been identified as Ahmad Ayman Tarabin, Abdullah Ismael Hamayda, Abdullah Ashraf al-Ghamri and Rashad al-Bodeini.

Israeli sources claimed that the group of Palestinians had fired toward the military base at the border, and there was an exchange of fire.

It also said the Palestinians carried AK-47 rifles, hand grenades, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, in addition to food.

Israeli daily Haaretz said the army is trying to determine whether the Palestinians “were planning to attack soldiers or civilians.”

The Israeli Ynetnews said that the Golani Brigades that opened fire on the Palestinians are the same Brigade that came under fire two days earlier, when two soldiers were injured.

Following the shooting of the four Palestinians, the Israeli airforce dropped bombs on what they claimed were two observation posts for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas party.

Military vehicles also invaded the area east of Dir al-Balah and began combing the area.

Israel has imposed a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip along the border between Gaza and Israel, preventing Palestinians from reaching their lands near the border fence. It regularly opens fire at anyone who enters that buffer zone.

In a fact sheet about Israeli attacks on border areas and their consequences, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said, “preventing Palestinians from accessing their lands and fishing areas violates numerous provisions of international human rights law, including the right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health.”

Abdullah was from the central part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Rashad al-Bodeini

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August 10, 2019: Rashad al-Bodeini, was one of four Palestinians shot and killed by Israeli forces for allegedly coming too close to the border fence between Gaza and Israel, east of Dir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces stationed along Gaza borders to the east of Dir al-Balah reportedly opened fire on a group of Palestinians after they allegedly approached the Israeli-installed barbed-wire fence along Gaza’s border with Israel, shooting and killing four.

The Israeli army then took their corpses away to an unknown location.

A Facebook page managed by the family of one of the slain Palestinians said the four have been identified as Ahmad Ayman Tarabin, Abdullah Ismael Hamayda, Abdullah Ashraf al-Ghamri and Rashad al-Bodeini.

Israeli sources claimed that the group of Palestinians had fired toward the military base at the border, and there was an exchange of fire.

It also said the Palestinians carried AK-47 rifles, hand grenades, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, in addition to food.

Israeli daily Haaretz said the army is trying to determine whether the Palestinians “were planning to attack soldiers or civilians.”

The Israeli Ynetnews said that the Golani Brigades that opened fire on the Palestinians are the same Brigade that came under fire two days earlier, when two soldiers were injured.

Following the shooting of the four Palestinians, the Israeli airforce dropped bombs on what they claimed were two observation posts for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas party.

Military vehicles also invaded the area east of Dir al-Balah and began combing the area.

Israel has imposed a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip along the border between Gaza and Israel, preventing Palestinians from reaching their lands near the border fence. It regularly opens fire at anyone who enters that buffer zone.

In a fact sheet about Israeli attacks on border areas and their consequences, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said, “preventing Palestinians from accessing their lands and fishing areas violates numerous provisions of international human rights law, including the right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health.”

Rashad was from the central part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Abdullah Ismael Hamayda

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August 10, 2019: Abdullah Ismael Hamayda, was one of four Palestinians shot and killed by Israeli forces for allegedly coming too close to the border fence between Gaza and Israel, east of Dir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces stationed along Gaza borders to the east of Dir al-Balah reportedly opened fire on a group of Palestinians after they allegedly approached the Israeli-installed barbed-wire fence along Gaza’s border with Israel, shooting and killing four.

The Israeli army then took their corpses away to an unknown location.

A Facebook page managed by the family of one of the slain Palestinians said the four have been identified as Ahmad Ayman Tarabin, Abdullah Ismael Hamayda, Abdullah Ashraf al-Ghamri and Rashad al-Bodeini.

Israeli sources claimed that the group of Palestinians had fired toward the military base at the border, and there was an exchange of fire.

It also said the Palestinians carried AK-47 rifles, hand grenades, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, in addition to food.

Israeli daily Haaretz said the army is trying to determine whether the Palestinians “were planning to attack soldiers or civilians.”

The Israeli Ynetnews said that the Golani Brigades that opened fire on the Palestinians are the same Brigade that came under fire two days earlier, when two soldiers were injured.

Following the shooting of the four Palestinians, the Israeli airforce dropped bombs on what they claimed were two observation posts for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas party.

Military vehicles also invaded the area east of Dir al-Balah and began combing the area.

Israel has imposed a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip along the border between Gaza and Israel, preventing Palestinians from reaching their lands near the border fence. It regularly opens fire at anyone who enters that buffer zone.

In a fact sheet about Israeli attacks on border areas and their consequences, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said, “preventing Palestinians from accessing their lands and fishing areas violates numerous provisions of international human rights law, including the right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health.”

Abdullah was from the central part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Ahmad Ayman Tarabin

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August 10, 2019: Ahmad Ayman Tarabin, was one of four Palestinians shot and killed by Israeli forces for allegedly coming too close to the border fence between Gaza and Israel, east of Dir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces stationed along Gaza borders to the east of Dir al-Balah reportedly opened fire on a group of Palestinians after they allegedly approached the Israeli-installed barbed-wire fence along Gaza’s border with Israel, shooting and killing four.

The Israeli army then took their corpses away to an unknown location.

A Facebook page managed by the family of one of the slain Palestinians said the four have been identified as Ahmad Ayman Tarabin, Abdullah Ismael Hamayda, Abdullah Ashraf al-Ghamri and Rashad al-Bodeini.

Israeli sources claimed that the group of Palestinians had fired toward the military base at the border, and there was an exchange of fire.

It also said the Palestinians carried AK-47 rifles, hand grenades, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, in addition to food.

Israeli daily Haaretz said the army is trying to determine whether the Palestinians “were planning to attack soldiers or civilians.”

The Israeli Ynetnews said that the Golani Brigades that opened fire on the Palestinians are the same Brigade that came under fire two days earlier, when two soldiers were injured.

Following the shooting of the four Palestinians, the Israeli airforce dropped bombs on what they claimed were two observation posts for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas party.

Military vehicles also invaded the area east of Dir al-Balah and began combing the area.

Israel has imposed a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip along the border between Gaza and Israel, preventing Palestinians from reaching their lands near the border fence. It regularly opens fire at anyone who enters that buffer zone.

In a fact sheet about Israeli attacks on border areas and their consequences, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said, “preventing Palestinians from accessing their lands and fishing areas violates numerous provisions of international human rights law, including the right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health.”

Ahmad was from the central part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Dvir Sorek

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Dvir Sorek

August 8, 2019: Dvir Sorek, 19, an off-duty Israeli soldier, was found stabbed to death on the side of the road near the Palestinian village of Beit Fajjar.

Israeli authorities announced Thursday morning that they had found Dvir’s body on the side of a road in the  south-central part of the West Bank, and believe he was the victim of an attack.

The perpetrators of the attack remain unknown, although Israeli authorities say they assume the attackers were Palestinian.

The nearest Palestinian village to the location where the body was found is Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem. Israeli forces stormed the village and put a complete closure on the area.

Dvir was a settler living illegally on stolen Palestinian land in the settlement of Ofra.

He was a student of the Jewish religion at a yeshiva (religious Jewish college) in the settlement where he lived. He was also an active duty Israeli soldier.

According to Israeli sources, Dvir had gone to Jerusalem to shop, but did not return home. His family reported him missing Wednesday night, and police began a search, finding his body about 2:30 am Thursday morning.

The Israeli military say their theory is that Sorek was pulled into a vehicle and killed, then dumped on the side of the road, and they presume that this was done by Palestinians.

An Israeli military spokesperson told the Israeli paper Ha’aretz that the military is “beginning to carry out steps on the working assumption that there is a terrorist cell in the area that carried out the attack.”

The Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that the military is “in pursuit now in order to capture the despicable terrorist and bring him to justice.”

The military has closed off nearby Palestinian villages and invaded them, issuing an order for Palestinians to remain in their homes.

This comes on the eve of the major Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, when many Palestinian families were planning to visit family in different parts of the West Bank. The curfews and closures have forced the families to remain indoors, and are a type of collective punishment on the Palestinian population in the area.

Hani Abu Salah

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Hani Abu SalahAugust 1, 2019: Hani Abu Salah, 20, was shot dead before dawn on Thursday by Israeli troops after he allegedly crossed the border between Gaza and Israel. Israeli forces claim that the young man exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers for an hour before they killed him.

The Palestinian was later identified as Hani Abu Salah. According to a statement issued by the Israeli army, the young man came across the border and clashed with the soldiers.

It is worth mentioning that Hani is the brother of Fadi Abu Salah, 20, who was killed by the Israeli army during on May 14, 2018. He was a wheelchair user who lost both of his legs during the Israeli war on Gaza in 2008.

According to the military, one officer sustained a moderate injury, and two other soldiers were slightly injured, and were transferred to the “Soroka” Hospital in Beer Sheva.

The Israeli army also announced that in the aftermath of this killing, they decided to begin firing tank shells toward the Palestinian city of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, which led to exchanges of fire with Palestinian fighters in which no injuries were reported.

Eyewitnesses in Gaza reported that the Israeli occupation army fired two shells and light bombs at the border area east of Khuza’a town in Khan Younis after hearing the sound of gunfire. Others also spoke of Israeli planes flying in the area .

Since weekly protests began on the Gaza-Israel border in 2018, at least 297 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces — most of them unarmed civilians participating in non-violent protests at the border. Seven Israelis have been killed by Palestinians during that same time period.

The protests have called for an end to the 12-year long siege of the Gaza Strip, and a return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes in what is now Israel.

Hani was from Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Ahmad Mohammad al-Qarra

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Ahmad al-QarraJuly 26, 2019: Ahmad Mohammad al-Qarra, 22, died from serious wounds he suffered in earlier that day when Israeli soldiers shot him during the Great Return March processions.

The Health Ministry said the young man, identified as Ahmad Mohammad al-Qarra, 22, was shot with a live round in his abdomen, suffering serious wounds, and died at a hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza Strip.

It added that the Palestinian was shot east of Khan Younis and was treated by the medics who rushed him to the hospital but succumbed to his serious wounds.

It is worth mentioning that the soldiers injured during Friday’s processions 71 Palestinians, including 30 children, one medic and three women, after the army attacked the Great Return March processions in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said.

The PCHR referred to a report published last Tuesday by the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Aharonot, in which is said that the army has, in recent months, been training the soldiers on a new type of a sniper rifle, which indicates that the military is using the Palestinians as target practice for its weapons, in direct violation of all international laws and regulations, including human rights treaties and International Humanitarian Law.

According to extensive and ongoing PCHR documentation, the Israeli army has killed 207 Palestinians, including 44 children, two women, 9 persons with special needs, four medics and two journalists, in addition to wounding 13323 Palestinians, including 2742 children, 409 women, 221 medics and 207 journalists, since the Great Return March processions started on March 30 2018.

196 of the wounded Palestinians. Including 28 children and 5 women, suffered permanent disabilities. 149 of them suffered amputations as a result of Israeli gunfire, 21 suffered paralysis, 26 lost their hearing or vision, and 9 suffered permanent damage to reproductive organs.

Ahmad was from Khan Younis, in the southern part of the West Bank. Source: IMEMC

Nassar Majed Taqatqa

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July 16, 2019: Nassar Majed Taqatqa, 31, died after having been tortured in an Israeli prison and then placed in solitary confinement in Nitzan Israeli Prison.

The Palestinian Prisoner Society reported that the autopsy revealed that Nassar died due to extreme torture and abuse by Israeli interrogators and soldiers.

In its report, the PPS stated that the detainee was constantly tortured during interrogation in Majeddo Israeli prison.

The PPS said the detainee, Nassar Majed Taqatqa, 31, was t abducted on June 19th, 2019, after the soldiers invaded his home in Beit Fajjar town, and was transferred to the al-Maskobiyya interrogation facility in occupied Jerusalem. This was his first time in Israeli custody.

The detainee was later transferred to the al-Jalama interrogation facility, where he was interrogated and tortured again, and started suffering from serious complications due to physical and psychological abuse.

In addition, sworn testimonies provided by Palestinian detainees who saw Taqatqa, said that he was forced into solitary confinement in Majeddo prison, where he was once again tortured and restrained in a bed.

On July 11th, the administration in Majeddo refused to remove him from solitary confinement, and place him with other detainees, under the pretext of him being punished.

On July 14th, he was moved to an Israeli hospital in al-Ramla due to serious deterioration in his health, and on July 16th, Israel announced his death in a solitary confinement cell in Nitzan (al-Ramla) prison.

Qaddoura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said the detainee is not the first to be tortured, especially to death, and added that most imprisoned Palestinians are tortured and subjected to very difficult conditions, in addition to being deprived the right to proper medical attention, in direct violation of International Law, and all related agreements and treaties.

It also denied allegations by the Israel Prison Authority about his death and confirmed that the Palestinian did not have any preexisting health conditions.

The PPS held Israel fully responsible for his death, especially while under interrogation, as Palestinian detainees are frequently physically and psychologically tortured, in addition to the very bad living conditions they face, and the lack of medical treatment.

The PPS stated that the death of Taqatqa brings the number of detainees, who were killed or died in Israeli prisons since 1967, to 220.

The International Red Cross sent its condolences to the family and stated that although it does not take part in investigation committees or autopsy, it will be following the case closely with the Israeli authorities and the family.

It added that it is following the detainee’s death with great concern and advised refraining from publishing sensitive information for the privacy of the family.

In a statement, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) called for an immediate and impartial investigation into Taqatqa’s death while in solitary confinement in Nitzan (al-Ramla) Prison.

It quoted his family stating that the detainee did not have any health issues and was a completely healthy young man when he was taken prisoner.

The PCHR said:

According to human rights organizations’ reports followed up by PCHR’s field workers, Israeli forces arrested Taqatqa on 19 June 2019 after raiding his house in Beit Fajjar and taking him to al-Jalamah Center for investigation.

On 09 July 2019, the Israeli forces again raided and searched his family house while he was in prison.  Two weeks after his arrest, the Israeli authorities sent Taqatqa to solitary confinement in “Nitzan” Prison (al-Ramla) in Israel to continue investigating with him.

Lawyer Raji Sourani, PCHR’s Director, commented on that by saying, “Israel has a record of prior incidents which prove Israeli security services’ involvement in torture, inhuman treatment, and deliberate medical negligence against dozens of prisoners as part of an Israeli systematic policy and under legal cover. Taqatqa, as said, did not have any health issues prior to his arrest, so his death during investigation raises suspicions, which urge opening an investigation into possible occurrence of torture and medical negligence.”

Taqatqa’s family said that this was his first arrest, and they knew about his death via media.  Thus, they contacted the lawyer of the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Committee to confirm this news.

PCHR emphasizes that living conditions of around 5800 Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails continue to deteriorate; 700 of them who suffer chronic diseases and do not receive the adequate healthcare.  PCHR also holds the Israeli government fully responsible for the death of Taqatqa and calls for a prompt and impartial investigation into the death circumstances.

Nassar was from Beit Fajjar town, south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Source: IMEMC