2020

Esther Horgan

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December 21st, 2020: Esther Horgan, 52, was found dead, Monday, near Tel Menashe illegal colony, near Nablus, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, in what Israel speculates an attack carried out by a Palestinian when she went for a jog in a nearby forest.

Israeli media sources said the corpse of Esther Horgan, 52, a mother of six, was found in the forest close to her home earlier Monday, and added that the attack resulted in a broken skull along with other injuries.

They stated that Horgan left her residence on Sunday afternoon and went jogging in the forest, but never returned home. Her husband then contacted the police before they initiated a search.

After her body was located, the Israeli army and the police initiated a massive search campaign to locate the person/s responsible for her death. Her family and friends started looking for her on Sunday afternoon after she went missing.

Three days after her body was found, Israeli forces abducted a man they claim was suspected of being responsible for her death.

In related news, Israeli sources said a settler, 18 years of age, was killed and four others were injured, during a chase by the Israeli police after they hurled stones at Palestinian vehicles near Ramallah, in central West Bank.

The Police said one of its undercover units ordered the vehicle to stop and gave chase after the driver refused to pull over and sped away before the vehicle slid and crashed.

Five settlers who were in the vehicle were injured, four of them suffered mild wounds, and one, identified as Ahuvya Sandak, 19, was pinned under the car and died at the scene.

Esther was from Tal Menashe colony in the northern West Bank. Source: IMEMC

Mahmoud Omar Kamil

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December 21st, 2020: Mahmoud Omar Sadeq Kamil, 17, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers near Bab Hutta Gate, in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem, after he reportedly opened fire at them.

According to the Israeli army, the Palestinian was fatally shot by the soldiers after he opened fire at them using the Carlo weapon.

The slain Palestinian was later identified as Mahmoud Omar Sadeq Kamil, 17, from Qabatia town, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

One soldier was mildly injured when he fell while chasing the Palestinian, and was moved to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem.

Palestinian worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque said they heard the shots before dozens of soldiers stormed the courtyards of the holy site and were extensively deployed around it after closing all of its gates, preventing the residents from entering or leaving it.

Dozens of police and security officers also arrived at the scene and installed many iron barriers to close the area.

The Police also stopped and interrogated dozens of young Palestinian men in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa and near it, in addition to assaulting and violently searching some of them.

On Monday at night, the soldiers invaded Qabatia town, before storming the home of Omar Kamil, the father of the slain teen, searched the property, and summoned him for interrogation in Salem military base and security center, west of Jenin.

 

Ali Ayman Abu Alia

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December 4, 2020: Ali Ayman Abu Alia, 14, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers while participating in a peaceful march in his village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of the central West Bank city of Ramallah.

Amin Abu Alia, the head of al- Mughayyir Village Council said several army jeeps invaded the eastern area of the village, and attacked unarmed protesters with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades.

He added that the soldiers shot Ali Ayman Abu Alia, 13, with a live round in the abdomen, before Palestinian medics rushed him to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where he was immediately sent to surgery, but succumbed to his serious wounds despite all attempts to save his life.

Abu Alia also stated that the soldiers shot four young Palestinian men with rubber-coated steel bullets, and caused many others to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.

Nickolai Mladenov, the United Nations’ Special Coordinator to the Middle East, called for a credible and independent investigation into the death of the child.

In a tweet, the UN official said, “Israel must swiftly and independently investigate the shocking incident,” and added that “Children enjoy special protection under International Law, and must be protected from violence.”

|Israel kills child and then lies|

The Office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the slaying of the child, and said that this incident is part of Israel’s continued brutal and criminal violations against the Palestinian people, especially the children.

It also called on the international community to provide protection to the Palestinian people, and to ensure the establishment of an independent, contiguous, and sovereign Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Ali was from al-Mughayyir village, northeast of the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Source: IMEMC

Nour Jamal Shqeir

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November 25, 2020: Nour Jamal Shqeir, 37, was killed by Israeli soldiers while driving through the Za’im military roadblock, east of occupied Jerusalem. The army claimed the man tried to ram the soldiers with his vehicle.

Shqeir was shot and seriously injured, before he was moved to Hadassah Israeli medical center in Jerusalem, suffering multiple gunshot wounds in the abdomen area, and died from his serious injuries.

After his death, the soldiers summoned his father and brothers for interrogation at the al-Maskobiyya facility in West Jerusalem.

The Israeli army claimed the man attempted to ram the soldiers with his vehicle at the roadblock, an allegation that was vehemently denied by his family.

His brother said Nour works in transportation, and due to the nature of his job, he has to cross through various military roadblocks.

Attorney Mohammad Mahmoud of Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) said the army is still refusing to transfer Nour’s body back to his family.

He added that the police interrogated Nour’s father, along with his two brothers.

Jamal, the father, told Silwanic that he and his sons headed to Za’im military roadblock after hearing the news about the shooting, and parked his vehicle on the other side of the terminal, after the soldiers refused to allow them to cross.

“I saw videos of the incident, and I could see my son’s vehicle after various videos were posted on social media networks,” he said, “However, we were met by dozens of soldiers, intelligence officers, who ordered us to leave, and that is when I saw my son’s vehicle riddled with bullets, just meters away from the roadblock.”

“Israeli intelligence officers inspected my ID card, and that of my son, Yahia, before they abducted him,” Jamal stated, “I was then ordered to head to al-Maskobiyya for interrogation, and after heading there, they refused to give me any information about Nour.”

The father and his son were separately interrogated for several hours, before they were released.

The army also summoned his other son, Anwar, for interrogation, and released the father and his two sons after hours of questioning.

After the fatal shooting, the soldiers invaded Silwan, and closed the Wadi ar-Rababa neighborhood in Silwan, and closed the entire area.

Silwanic stated that Jalal and Yahia are former political prisoners, who were taken prisoner in the year 2013, and were sentenced to 26 months in prison, in addition to being forced to pay fines after an Israeli court “convicted them of throwing stones at the soldiers and a bus transporting colonialist settler, wounding one of them.”

Their father was taken prisoner later in the same year while visiting his sons in Eshil prison after the soldiers claimed he was trying to smuggle a cell phone sim card into the facility.

He was later released but was denied visits with his detained sons, in addition to being banned from returning to his home, for several months.

Commenting on the fatal shooting, Jerusalem Governor Adnan Gheith, said the soldiers killed Nour in cold blood, as there was no reason to fire these shots.

He added that Israel’s military roadblocks are notorious for such incidents, especially since the soldiers are always fast in resorting to fatal shots without being subject to any physical danger.

On November 4, the soldiers Bilal Adnan Rawajba, 29, while driving his car near the Huwwara checkpoint, in the northern part of the West Bank. Bilal was a married father of an infant girl, only three months of age.

On October 25, the soldiers killed a Palestinian child, identified as Amer Abdul-Rahim Snobar, 16, from Yitma village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Snobar was killed when the soldiers repeatedly struck and assaulted him, after they had chased his car and opened fire at it, on the main Ramallah-Nablus road, in the occupied West Bank.

On October 5th, the soldiers killed Samir Hmeidi, 28, from Beit Lid, in Tulkarem, in northern West Bank, when he was crossing a military roadblock.

Nour was from the Wadi ar-Rababa area, in Silwan town, in Jerusalem. Source: IMEMC

Sagi Ben-David

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November 12th, 2020: Sagi Ben-David, a Corporal in the Israeli military, was found deceased on Thursday morning – but the Israeli military said they did not have evidence of any foul play.

On Thursday, the Israeli army said that it located, near Jerusalem, the corpse of a soldier who went missing Tuesday.

The army said the corpse was located near Hizma military roadblock, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, and added that the military and the police are cooperating in investigating his death.

It identified the soldier as corporal Sagi Ben-David, and said he went missing Tuesday.According to Israeli Ynet News, the soldier was serving at Anatot military base, near Jerusalem, and that he apparently turned his phone off when he left the base.

It added that his death “does not appear to be a nationalistic act,” in other words, the army does not believe the incident is related to the conflict.

Sagi was from Israel. Source: IMEMC

Bilal Adnan Rawajba

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November 4th, 2020: Bilal Adnan Rawajba, 29, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers while driving his car near the Huwwara checkpoint, in the northern part of the West Bank. Bilal was a married father of an infant girl, only three months of age.

Eyewitnesses said the soldiers prevented Palestinian medics from approaching the vehicle he was driving, despite his serious wounds, and he bled to death.

It is worth mentioning that Bilal was a captain, working as a legal Counselor with the Palestinian Preventative Security Department in the Tubas governorate, in northeastern West Bank.

He was shot, on Wednesday morning, near Huwwara military roadblock, south of Nablus.

The Maan News Agency published a photo from the incident showing the Palestinian still in the driver seat when he was shot by the soldiers who fired a barrage of live rounds at him.

Several shots, fired by the soldiers, could be heard in a video captured by a Palestinian while waiting in a car near the roadblock.

In a brief statement, the Israeli army said its soldiers foiled what it described as “an attempted shooting attack” by “neutralizing the attacker,” and added that no soldiers were hurt.

In addition, the Israeli daily Haaretz quoted the army claiming the Palestinian fired two shots at the soldiers before they fired back and killed him.

The army closed the military roadblock after the incident, preventing the Palestinians from crossing.

It is important to note that numerous incidents have been documented in which Israeli soldiers have falsely claimed that Palestinians held weapons or fired on them, in order to attempt to justify killings in which unarmed Palestinians were shot and killed by heavily armed Israeli solders.

— First Published on Nov 4, 2020, at 11:46

Bilal was from Iraq at-Tayeh village, east of Nablus, in northern West Bank. Source: IMEMC

Amer Abdul-Rahim Snobar

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October 25, 2020: Amer Abdul-Rahim Snobar, 17, was killed by Israeli soldiers who repeatedly struck and assaulted him, after they had chased his car and opened fire at it, on the main Ramallah-Nablus road, in the occupied West Bank.

They added that the soldiers fired several live rounds at the car, and then repeatedly assaulted Sobar, including hitting him with rifle-butts, inflicting serious wounds, but did not attempt to abduct him or move him to an Israeli medical center.

Palestinian medics were called to the scene and provided the seriously wounded young man with vital first aid before rushing him to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah.

Initial reports indicated that the young man was shot in his car, but eyewitnesses confirmed he was not injured by the bullets, but instead, all his wounds were inflicted by the soldiers who brutally assaulted him.

Dr. Ahmad al-Bitwati, the head of Ramallah Medical Complex in Ramallah, told Palestine TV that Snobar was not shot, but died as a result of injuries sustained from an attack by Israeli forces.

“There were visible signs of beatings on Snobar’s neck,” Bitawi said.

The medical center also confirmed reported that the injuries to Snobar’s neck were consistent with being beaten with the butts of Israeli soldiers’ rifles.

Al-Bitawi added that the Palestinian was already dead when the Palestinian ambulance arrived at the medical center.

Furthermore, Defense for Children International (DCI)- Palestine Branch said Snobar was helping his 17-year-old friend move his broken-down car near the village of Turmus Ayya, located northeast of Ramallah when Israeli forces arrived at the scene.

It added that the friend managed to flee on foot to some nearby trees where he became an eyewitness to Snobar’s killing. Snobar was surrounded by Israeli forces and placed in a chokehold before being beaten and killed by Israeli forces, according to the eyewitness. Snobar was later transferred by ambulance to a Ramallah hospital where he was pronounced dead.

On Saturday evening, the soldiers closed Beit Iksa and Qalandia roadblocks, north of Jerusalem, and prevented the Palestinians from crossing in both directions.

The soldiers searched dozens of cars and interrogated many Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards, before the army invaded the al-Ram town, north of Jerusalem, and chased many young men.

Israeli sources quoted the army claiming that pipe bombs were hurled at the Qalandia terminal, causing no injuries or damage and that an army sapper was called to the scene.

Amer was from Yitma village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Source: IMEMC

Suhaib Ibrahim Al-Khatib

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October 9th, 2020: Suhaib Ibrahim Al-Khatib, 19, died in a tunnel accident, in one of the many ‘siege-busting’ tunnels constructed underground to bring lifesaving aid to the people of Gaza.

The Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed the accidental death of a Palestinian resistance fighter in the southern besieged Gaza Strip

The military wing of the Hamas Resistance Movement, said the young man, Suhaib Ibrahim Al-Khatib, 19, was killed in an undisclosed accident in Rafah, on Friday night.

The correspondent stated that Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas leaders and hundreds of Palestinian civilians attended the funeral, on Saturday, at the “Al-Nour” mosque in Rafah, then carried out in a march to the cemetery.

Suhaib was from Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Samir Ahmad Hmeidi

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October 5th, 2020: Samir Ahmad Hmeidi, 28, was shot and killed by Israeli forces east of Tulkarem in the northern occupied West Bank, the Jerusalem Press reported.

In addition to the killing of Hmeidi, Israeli forces also shot at and wounded two other Palestinians near the “Annab” military roadblock in the northern West Bank.

Hmeidi was a former political prisoner, from Beit Lid town, southwest of Tulkarem, who spent three years in Israeli prisons.

According to the official Hebrew channel, the Israeli army alleged that three Palestinians threw bottles with flaming rags in them at an army post, and the soldiers shot at them.

Two of the Palestinians fled, and the third was seen lying bleeding on the ground by eyewitnesses.

Israeli troops did not bring in medical personnel to treat the man, and he bled to death soon after.

Samir Ahmad Hmeidi, 28, a university student, was shot by Israeli soldiers. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a young man lying on the ground bleeding.

Haaretz news published the Israel Defense Forces’ spokesman statement, which claimed that Israeli forces, stationed near the illegal Israeli settlement of Einav “identified three terrorists who threw firebombs at them. The forces responded with [live] fire, and one of the terrorists was hit.”

The army added that no Israeli soldiers were injured.

Samir was from Beit Lid town, southwest of Tulkarem. Source: IMEMC

Khalil Mohammad Lubbad

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Khalil LubbadSeptember 20th, 2020: Khalil Mohammad Lubbad, 27, died when a tunnel collapsed on him in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Three other fighters were injured in the collapse, all of whom were members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

Medical sources said the fighter was taken to the Indonesian Hospital, in Jabalia, along with three other Palestinians who were injured in the same incident, and that one of them is in a serious condition.

Dozens of Palestinians, including civilians not affiliated with any armed resistance groups, were killed and scores were injured in similar accidents, while many were killed or injured when the Israeli army bombarded the tunnels while they were working in them.

Tunnels in Gaza are not all used by armed resistance groups to smuggle weapons into the besieged coastal region, as many are used to smuggle goods and supplies, including medical supplies and fuel, into the enclave.

Many Palestinian civilians work in the tunnels to provide for their families due to the high levels of unemployment and poverty.

Khalil was from Jabalia refugee camp, in northern Gaza. Source: IMEMC