Israeli Archives - Page 6 of 7 - Israel-Palestine Timeline

Soumya Santosh*

May 12, 2021April 12, 2022 contact@ifamericansknew.org

May 12th, 2021: Soumya Santosh*, 31, was killed by a Palestinian rocket fired from Gaza.

After Israeli forces pounded the Gaza Strip with missiles for two straight days, killing at least 35 Palestinians including 12 children, and refusing to respond to Palestinian demands for a withdrawal and a ceasefire, Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip launched a barrage of rockets across the border into Israel, killing five Israelis, including a teenage girl and her father.

One of those killed has been identified as Soumya Santosh, from Kerala, India, who worked as a housemaid for an Israeli household in Ashkelon for the past seven years.

In addition, a 50-year old Israeli woman was killed in Rishon Lezion, just south of Tel Aviv.

Rocket sirens sounded throughout the night in Israel’s southern towns and cities, and the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv was briefly shut down. 26 Israelis were reportedly injured – most with minor injuries.

The rockets were fired in the early morning hours on Wednesday, as Gaza’s hospitals were besieged with hundreds of wounded Palestinians, many of them children, who suffered traumatic and severe injuries from the numerous Israeli missile strikes into crowded Palestinian neighborhoods throughout Gaza on Monday and Tuesday.

In addition to bombing Palestinian neighborhoods for two straight days, the Israeli military called up 5,000 reservists and had them stationed at the border with Gaza to threaten the Gaza Strip with a possible ground invasion.

The Palestinian resistance responded to this violent aggression with rocket fire directed toward Tel Aviv. This marks the longest-range rockets that have been fired by the Palestinian resistance to date. Other rockets fired in the past have reached as far as the coastal Israeli city of Ashkelon (formerly the Palestinian town of Azkalan), but had not had the range or capacity to reach the Israeli capital Tel Aviv (built on the former Palestinian town of Yaffa) before.

Israelis in the cities of Sderot, Holon and Ashkelon rushed to shelters and many stayed there overnight to try to avoid the impact of Palestinian resistance rocket fire.

Israeli media reported that at 8:45 A.M. on Wednesday, Israeli forces intercepted a drone crossing from Gaza into Israel.

The teen girl and her father who were killed by a Palestinian resistance rocket, Nadine and Khalil Awaad, were themselves Palestinian – with Israeli citizenship. But their town, Dhamas near Lod, being a mainly Palestinian village, was never provided bomb shelters like the Jewish Israeli towns were provided by the government. In fact, their village, Dhamas, was not recognized by Israeli authorities, and so lacks basic services and is under threat of demolition by the Israeli government. One of their relatives, Ismail Arafat, lives there as well and has been part of leading the struggle for recognition of the village.

The Israeli news agency Ha’aretz quoted Ismail Arafat as saying, “We have nowhere to go. We don’t have a bomb shelter here for everyone. For the Thai [migrant] workers they built shelters, but we were not allowed because we are not humans. Nadine and Khalil were in the middle of breakfast before fasting [for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan]. It seems that he opened the door and that’s how he was hit.”

Soumya was from the Idukki district of Kerala, India, but had been living and working in Ashkelon, Israel when she was killed. Source: IMEMC

Nela Gurevitch

May 12, 2021August 10, 2021 contact@ifamericansknew.org

May 12, 2021: Nela Gurevitch, 52, was killed by a rocket that hit her apartment building in Ashkelon. Her husband was lightly wounded by the rocket.

In the midst of a deadly night in Gaza in which Israeli bombardment killed at least 34 Palestinians in a single night of bombing, Palestinian resistance fighters retaliated in the early morning hours with the launch of rockets toward Israel, killing six Israelis.

Israelis in the cities of Sderot, Holon and Ashkelon rushed to shelters and many stayed there overnight to try to avoid the impact of Palestinian resistance rocket fire.

Israeli media reported that at 8:45 A.M. on Wednesday, Israeli forces intercepted a drone crossing from Gaza into Israel.

A teen girl and her father who were killed by a Palestinian resistance rocket, Nadine and Khalil Awaad, were themselves Palestinian – with Israeli citizenship. But their town, Dhamas near Lod, being a mainly Palestinian village, was never provided bomb shelters like the Jewish Israeli towns were provided by the government. In fact, their village, Dhamas, was not recognized by Israeli authorities, and so lacks basic services and is under threat of demolition by the Israeli government. One of their relatives, Ismail Arafat, lives there as well and has been part of leading the struggle for recognition of the village.

Nela was from Ashkelon, in southwestern Israel. IMEMC

Khalil Awad

May 12, 2021August 15, 2021 contact@ifamericansknew.org

May 12, 2021: Khalil Awad, 52, was killed along with his daughter Nadine, 16, in front of their home in the Palestinian village of Dahmash in central Israel, about 20 kilometers from Tel Aviv, in the early morning of May 12.

A teen girl and her father who were killed by a Palestinian resistance rocket, Nadine and Khalil Awaad, were themselves Palestinian – with Israeli citizenship. But their town, Dahmash near Lod, being a mainly Palestinian village, was never provided bomb shelters like the Jewish Israeli towns were provided by the government. In fact, their village, Dhamas, was not recognized by Israeli authorities, and so lacks basic services and is under threat of demolition by the Israeli government. One of their relatives, Ismail Arafat, lives there as well and has been part of leading the struggle for recognition of the village.

The rocket attack that killed them occurred after the al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing, said in a statement on the evening of May 11 that they had “directed the largest rocket barrage toward Tel Aviv and its surrounding areas, with 130 rockets, in response to the enemy’s targeting of civilian buildings.”

Israelis in the cities of Sderot, Holon and Ashkelon rushed to shelters and many stayed there overnight to try to avoid the impact of Palestinian resistance rocket fire.

Israeli media reported that at 8:45 A.M. on Wednesday, Israeli forces intercepted a drone crossing from Gaza into Israel.

Khalil was from the Palestinian village of Dahmash in central Israel. IMEMC

Ido Avigal

May 12, 2021August 24, 2021 contact@ifamericansknew.org

May 12, 2021: Ido Avigal, 5, was killed when he was struck by shrapnel from a rocket that hit near a bomb shelter where he was hiding with his family. He died of his wounds several hours after he was injured.

Israelis in the cities of Sderot, Holon and Ashkelon rushed to shelters and many stayed there overnight to try to avoid the impact of Palestinian resistance rocket fire.

Israeli media reported that at 8:45 A.M. on Wednesday, Israeli forces intercepted a drone crossing from Gaza into Israel.

Ido was from Israel. Source: IMEMC

Yehuda Guetta

May 5, 2021May 6, 2021 contact@ifamericansknew.org

May 5th, 2021: Yehuda Guetta, 19, of Jerusalem, died from wounds sustained three days earlier in a drive-by shooting

He was one of three 19-year old Israeli settlers were shot and injured by gunshots from a passing vehicle while standing on the roadside by Za’tara military checkpoint in southern occupied Nablus.

Israeli soldiers stationed at the checkpoint opened fire at the vehicle from which the shots were fired — identified as a silver SUV — but the vehicle drove away.

The three wounded Israelis were identified as Yehuda Guetta from Jerusalem, Benaya Peretz from Beit Shean, and Amichai Hala from Safed. The three were students at a Yeshiva (Jewish religious school) located in Itamar settlement, built on stolen Palestinian land near Nablus.

Yehuda sustained critical injuries, while the other two sustained moderate and light injuries, respectively.

According to the Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, “The [Israeli military] and security forces will not rest until they get their hands on the terrorists who carried out the attack”.

Following the shooting, Israeli forces closed the checkpoint, preventing all Palestinian civilians from entering or leaving the area. They also began invading nearby villages and towns, forcing all residents to remain in their homes during the invasions.

In addition, the Israeli military set up a number of ‘flying checkpoints’ throughout the northern West Bank, forcing Palestinian civilians to remain stopped on roadways for hours at a time waiting for their vehicles to be examined by the soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a a statement saying that, “We will not allow terror to raise its head, and we will strike our enemies forcefully.”

The three victims were taken to the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva for treatment.

The attack came in the midst of high tensions throughout the West Bank, with numerous attacks against Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers and soldiers. The violent attacks against Palestinian civilians began two weeks ago, at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when a right-wing Israeli group Lehava held a march through Palestinian neighborhoods shouting ‘Death to Arabs’ and injuring more than a hundred Palestinians in a single night.

Israeli soldiers and settlers have, over the previous three weeks before this shooting, repeatedly attacked Palestinian worshipers at and around the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which is the third-holiest site in Islam.

According to Israeli media, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement issued a statement that, “We praise the courageous operation at Za’tara checkpoint. We consider it a message in the name of the entire Palestinian people that Jerusalem is a red line and harming the holy places will cause an explosion of anger in the face of the occupation”.

Yehuda was from Jerusalem. Source: IMEMC

Esther Horgan

December 21, 2020January 6, 2021 contact@ifamericansknew.org

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

Sagi Ben-David

November 12, 2020January 25, 2022 contact@ifamericansknew.org

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

Amit Ben Ygal

May 12, 2020June 7, 2020 contact@ifamericansknew.org

May 12, 2020: Amit Ben Ygal, 21, was killed during a pre-dawn invasion of the northern West Bank by Palestinians who dropped a large stone from a rooftop on his head while he was in the street.

According to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, Ygal was among a battalion of soldiers with the Golani Brigade who invaded the village of Ya’bad, southwest of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, around 4:00 in the morning on Tuesday.

Many villagers were awake at the time, to eat their pre-dawn meal and prepare for the day of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. So the soldiers, who often engage in pre-dawn raids but usually do so while residents are sleeping, instead were met by angry youth who demanded that they leave their town.

The Israeli military reported that the Golani Brigade was invading the village in order to abduct two Palestinians that they suspected of ‘terrorism’, and another two who were suspected of having thrown stones at soldiers during previous invasions.

Following the initial invasion, dozens of soldiers and armored vehicles stormed the town, and initiated very violent and extensive searches of homes and buildings, and abducted at least eighteen Palestinians, including a father and his three children.The person who dropped the stone on the soldier has not been identified, but Israeli troops have issued a complete lockdown order on the village and are searching house-by-house, interrogating the residents and preventing them from leaving their homes.

Media sources in Jenin said the soldiers abducted Mohammad Atiyya Abu Bakr along with his brothers Thabet, Bassel and Ra’fat, in addition to Ribhi Mohammad Abu Bakr, along with his wife, his daughter Eman, 15, and his sons Mohammad and Khaled.

The soldiers also abducted Anas Kamer Abu Shamla and his brother Yazan, in addition to assaulting and wounding their brother, Mohammad.

The soldiers also shot two young men with rubber-coated steel bullets and caused dozens to suffer the severe effects of teargas inhalation.

The soldiers also stormed and ransacked many homes, including the properties of Bassem Lufti Abu Bakr, Sa’ed Omar Abu Bakr, Atiyya Younis Asfour, in addition to his brothers Nathmi and Ribhi, and interrogated them for several hours.

Furthermore, the soldiers also occupied the rooftops of many homes, especially in the as-Salma neighborhood, while more soldiers were deployed in the town’s streets and around it, completely isolating it.

Amit was from Ramat Gan, in central Israel. Source: IMEMC

Rina Shnerb

August 23, 2019September 5, 2019 contact@ifamericansknew.org

August 23, 2019: Rina Shnerb, 17, from Lod, was killed, while her brother Dvir, 19, suffered serious wounds, and her father Eitan, 46, was mildly injured, when an improvised explosive went off near them while they were hiking near a spring northwest of Ramallah, in the central part of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli sources have reported that Rina was killed, while her brother and father were injured, when a bomb went off near them while hiking near the illegal Dolev colony, in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli army said the bomb was placed by Palestinians and initiated a massive search campaign in the area.

The three Israelis were moved to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem; the condition of her brother was described as serious but stable, and he was placed in the Intensive Care Unit for monitoring.

The area where the explosion took place, filled with olive groves, is a destination for many Israeli hikers in the occupied West Bank, and the Palestinians are largely denied access to the land, despite having proof of ownership of the land.

Following the incident, the Israeli army closed the area around Deir Ibzi’ village, west of Ramallah.

The soldiers also closed all main roads leading to Palestinian villages west of Ramallah, while more troops were deployed on roads leading to Ramallah and al-Biereh governorate.

The closures and extensive military deployments were focused in Wad ad-Dalb area, west of Ramallah, Kafr Ni’ma village, Ein Ayyoub Junction and Ras Karkar village, where the soldiers stormed and ransacked dozens of homes and stores, and detained a Palestinian photojournalist, identified as Hisham Abu Shaqra.

In addition, the army closed the roads linking between Sarda village and al-Irsal Street, in addition to Ein Siniya junction, at the northern entrance of Ramallah, before stopping and searching dozens of Palestinian cars.

The army also invaded Betunia town, west of Ramallah, especially the area of its main roundabout in the town’s center, and prevented Palestinians from entering or leaving it.

In addition, dozens of illegal Israeli colonists closed the main roads linking between Huwwara town, south of Nablus in northern West Bank, and several other surrounding areas, and began throwing stones at Palestinian cars.

The colonists mainly gathered on Yitzhar road, where they attacked many Palestinian cars, while Israeli soldiers did not try to stop them.

Rina was from Lod, in western Israel. Source: IMEMC

Dvir Sorek

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019 contact@ifamericansknew.org

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.