May 2017

Mohannad Abu Safaqa

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May 25, 2017: Mohannad Abu Safaqa, 45, died from serious wounds he suffered two days earlier after reportedly stabbing and wounding an Israeli police officer.

Mohannad, a Palestinian worker from Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, died from serious wounds at an Israeli medical center.

The Israeli army refused to allow the transfer of his corpse to his family for burial.

On July 9, 2017, Israel allowed the transfer of his body to his family in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem before they held the burial.

The transfer of his corpse was supposed to be conducted earlier, but the Israeli army decided to delay the process without explaining.

Mohannad was from Tulkarem, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. Source: IMEMC

Raed Radayda

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May 22, 2017: Raed Ahmad Radayda, 15, was killed by Israeli soldiers at the “Container” military roadblock near Bethlehem, after he allegedly ran towards the soldiers while carrying a knife.

The Israeli army claimed that the child ran towards the soldiers while carrying a knife, and after a short scuffle, the soldiers shot him.

Palestinian Red Crescent medics rushed to the roadblock, but the soldiers prevented them from approaching the wounded child, who eventually bled to death. The Israeli military did not report any injuries among the soldiers.

Th child’s family said they were searching for him after he went missing in the afternoon until they were officially informed of his death at night. Raed was from the al-Obeydiyya town, east of Bethlehem in the West Bank. Source: IMEMC

Fatima Taqatqa

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May 20, 2017: Fatima Jibril Taqatqa, 15, died from serious wounds she suffered on March 15, 2017, when an Israeli soldier shot her after she lost control of a car she was driving and struck a median at the Etzion settlement junction south of Bethlehem in the West Bank.

Eyewitnesses said the child panicked after seeing the soldiers at the intersection, and lost control of her car, causing her to cross the median before striking metal bars protecting a bus stop in the opposite direction.

Fatima had no driver’s license and was not experienced in driving a car. She was shot after her car came to the complete halt.

The soldiers started firing at her, causing serious wounds, and claimed that the incident was not a traffic accident, but a “deliberate vehicular attack.” The incident did not lead to any other casualties and was captured by a surveillance camera.

The child was shot in the head and was moved to an Israeli medical center, where remained on life support until her death. Fatima was from Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem. Source: IMEMC

Mo’taz Shamsa

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May 18, 2017: Mo’taz Hussein Bani Shamsa, 23, was killed by a live round fired by an Israeli settler in Huwwara Palestinian town, south of Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, during a procession in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners holding hunger strike since April 17th.

The settler also shot a Palestinian cameraman, identified as Majdi Eshteyya, causing moderate wounds, and mildly injured three Palestinians after ramming them with his car.

The death of the Palestinian led to clashes between dozens of local youth and Israeli soldiers, who also closed Huwwara road.

Israeli soldiers fired gas bombs, causing many Palestinians to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation, two of them, including a man, 49, were hospitalized.

Some Israeli media agencies claimed that the settler “survived a lynching,” and quoted him alleging he opened fire on the protesters, after “he felt that his life was in danger,” also quoting his wife alleging he “was forced to shoot.”

In a Press Release, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights denounced the killing of the Palestinian civilian, and said that its investigations revealed that the settler passed several cars with high speed and attempted to run over some protesters.

It added that a Palestinian ambulance driver then stopped the settler, who instantly took his gun out and started shooting at the protesters, hitting Mo’taz in the head.

The settler is from the illegal Jewish-only Itamar settlement, built on confiscated Palestinian land southeast of Nablus. The Israeli Police said he was taken in for questioning, and confirmed that he is not a “criminal suspect.” Mo’taz was from Beita town, east of Nablus.  Source: IMEMC

Mohammad Bakr

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May 15, 2017: Mohammad Majed Bakr, 25, was killed by Israeli navy fire after the navy opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats close to the Gaza shore, shooting him and abducting three other fishermen, and confiscating their boats.

Mohammad was a married father of two children. He was seriously injured, and was later moved to Barzelai Israeli Medical Center, where he died from his wounds.

His corpse was later transferred back to the besieged Gaza Strip, where hundreds of Palestinians marched in his funeral ceremony and burial.

After the navy attacked Palestinian fishing boats near the Sudaniyya Sea shoe in Gaza, the navy arrested Mohammad, who was injured by live fire in the abdomen, along with Mohammad Abu Warda, 27, and his brothers Yousef, 22, and Hussein, 14.

During the navy attack, at least 60 fishing nets were destroyed; one fishing boat was confiscated, while four other fishermen were abducted in an earlier attack.

The Palestinian Center for Human Right (PCHR) said that Israeli gunboats opened fire at a fishing boat manned by four fishermen, wounding Mohammed with a bullet to the abdomen.

On Sunday May 14, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Wahah shore, west of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, chased a fishing boat belonging to ‘Ashour Shamalakh, who was sailing within the Israeli-created limit of 3 nautical miles, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said.

One of the Israeli gunboats then surrounded the fishing boat, which was manned by three fishermen, and the Israeli soldiers ordered the fishermen to stop fishing and arrested them. Those arrested fishermen were identified as Mohammed Sa’id Bakr, 17, Mohammed Tariq Baker, 22, and ‘Abdullah Sabri Baker, 19.

PCHR also stated that approximately 23:45 on the same day, Israeli gunboats stationed off the shore, northwest of al-Wahah, west of Beit Lahia, opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats.

The gunboats then surrounded a fishing boat belonging to Amin Abu Warda, 49, sailing within 2 nautical miles, and manned by his three sons, Yousif, 27, Mohammed, 24, and Hussein, 13. All of them are from Jabalia.

The Israeli naval soldiers forced them to take off their clothes, jumped into the eater and swim towards the Israeli gunboat; the fishermen were then arrested while the boat was confiscated. Mohammad was from Gaza. Source: IMEMC

Saba’ Obeid

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May 12, 2017: Saba’ Nidal Obeid, 22, was killed by an Israeli army sharpshooter who shot him in the heart during a nonviolent procession held in Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah, in the West Bank.

The soldiers invaded the village during its weekly nonviolent procession against the Israeli Annexation Wall and illegal Jewish-only settlements. The village residents were also marching in solidarity with the hundreds of Palestinians detainees holding hunger strike in Israeli prisons.

Palestinian physicians and surgeons tried to revive the young man, and instantly moved him to surgery, but he died from his wounds due to the bullet that struck him directly in his heart.

Many Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets, and dozens suffered the severe effects if teargas inhalation, as a result of the excessive Israeli military use of force against the protesters.

The soldiers also prevented journalists from entering the village, and declared it a “closed military zone,” a measure frequently used by the army to seal and isolate entire Palestinian communities. Nidal was from Salfit, in central West Bank. Source: IMEMC

Fatima Hajiji

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May 7, 2017: Fatima Afeef Abdul-Rahman Hajiji, 16, was killed by Israeli soldiers and police officers near the entrance of Damascus Gate in Jerusalem after the police claimed she attempted to stab a security officer.

Eyewitnesses said Fatima was standing at least ten meters away from the nearest soldier or officer, and that one of the soldiers started shouting “knife, knife,” before five soldiers fired a barrage of bullets at the her.

Fatima was first shot with several live rounds in the chest, and the soldiers continued to fire at her after she fell onto the ground. Many live rounds also struck a Palestinian Taxi, parked nearby, causing damage and puncturing one of its tires.

Photos of the deceased show that she was shot and killed at quite a distance from the guard post, so even if she had been holding a knife (which is disputed), no security officers were in danger at the time when she was killed.

Following the fatal shooting of the child, the soldiers used pepper-spray against dozens of Palestinians who gathered in the area, especially close to Fatima.

The soldiers also assaulted many Palestinians, including children, in Sultan Suleiman Street, causing a child, identified as Mahmoud Abu Sbeih, 9, to fall from a high altitude after mounted officer chased him and many other Palestinians.

Hundreds of soldiers and mounted police officers were deployed in the area, closed many roads and alleys, and forced the Palestinians away.

Fatima was from Qarawat Bani Zeid village near Ramallah, in the central part of the West Bank. Source: IMEMC