Headlines from Israel-Palestine: new week, same old violence

Invisible headlines: A boy in the Bedouin refugee community of Um al Khayr in the South Hebron Hills where large scale home demolitions by Israeli authorities took place. (file)

Israel’s incessant human rights abuses against Palestinians included last week: abductions, violence, home demolition and invasion, and more. Mainstream media won’t tell these stories.

compiled by If Americans Knew

Headlines: abductions, violence by Israeli soldiers

The Institute for Palestine Studies reports: “For Palestinians, the experience of being a prisoner is as common to life under occupation as, say, land confiscations and checkpoints. Since 1967, 40% of the adult male population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or roughly 800,000 people, have been the victim of some form of detention by Israel.”

Below are headlines from one week (Feb. 19-25, 2021) from just one news outlet (International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC), reporting on abductions (the word some Palestinians use for the experience of being kidnapped by Israeli soldiers and taken for interrogation or detention). In 7 days, 65 Palestinians were reported to be abducted.

Others were shot at or attacked in other ways.

Headlines: home invasions, demolitions by Israeli soldiers

Home invasions by Israeli forces are a nightly occurrence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. One former soldier, speaking to Breaking the Silence (an org dedicated to truth-telling about Israeli military actions), explains: “The overarching goal was to instill a sense of persecution among the Palestinians. These weren’t my words; they were screened or written in briefings we received.”

The targeted homes are often chosen randomly, and rarely are connected with a law enforcement issue.

Home and village demolitions are a common event. In January 2021 alone, Israel demolished 78 structures, rendering 69 Palestinians (almost half children) homeless, and impacting almost 700 individuals – this in spite of its promise to halt demolitions for the duration of the pandemic. Read about recent examples here and here.

Headlines: Israeli settler violence

Recent weeks have been particularly dangerous for Palestinians who live near Israel’s illegal settlements (illegal because they are built on Palestinian land). Notably, the Israeli military is often complicit in settler violence, even assisting in the perpetration of the acts.

Miscellaneous headlines

Palestinians Hold Burial Ceremony Of Detainee Who Died In Israeli Prison In September
OCHA: Protection of Civilians Report Feb. 2 – 15, 2021(this brief report summarizes actions carried out by Israeli military and civilians, as well as Palestinians, over a 2-week period, including:

- - - an Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian
    - 71 Palestinians and 4 Israeli soldiers were injured in clashes across the West Bank
    - Israeli forces carried out 186 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 172 Palestinians across the West Bank
    - 28 times, Israeli forces opened warning fire near the perimeter fence on the Gaza border, or off the coast
    - 90 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished or seized, displacing 157 people, of whom 87 were children, and otherwise affecting at least 330
    - Israeli authorities uprooted 1,000 saplings belonging to Palestinians
    - 2 Israelis, a 14-year-old girl and a woman, were injured by perpetrators believed to be Palestinians

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