| International human rights monitor arrested during destruction of Palestinian home. | | International human rights monitor arrested during destruction of Palestinian home.
Today, on November 22nd, 2023 early in the morning, Israeli occupation forces bulldozed a family home in Sha’ab Al-Butum in the Yatta region of the occupied West Bank which has seen soaring levels of extremist settler and IOF violence against Palestinians and human rights defenders.
As international human rights monitors were present to document the destruction of the residence, which, according to OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) is one of 916 structures demolished in 2023 up to Nov 21 with 1,555 people displaced, occupation authorities arrested a peaceful Belgian/British foreign national and currently have her detained in a central police station.
The volunteer, who was standing peacefully at the site of the demolition, is being held on outrageous allegations of “terrorism conspiracy” and “aggression against a soldier”.
Since October 7th, human rights defenders monitoring this campaign of escalating violence and terror against occupied Palestinians in the West Bank have been groped, verbally assaulted, held at gunpoint, had their phones smashed and confiscated, and the passwords to their devices demanded by occupation forces along with their proxies, the extremist ideological settlers working to ethnically cleanse the area in the South Hebron Hills.
Documenting the atrocities occurring in the occupied West Bank has included reporting on the ethnic cleansing of 15 Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. The Palestinian families in these villages are enduring violent raids, the smashing of their vehicles, the destruction of their farming equipment, the slashing of their water tanks, invasion of their homes and threats that if they do not abandon their homes and villages to the settlers,they would all be murdered within 24 hours.
| 22/11/2023 |
| Two tiny Palestinian villages, supported by activists, hold on against brutal murderous settlers | | ISM - The village of Wadi Tiran was given a 24 hour warning, “leave or we kill everyone”.
Wadi Tiran is a small herding community in the South Hebron Hills, occupied West Bank. On the night of 11 Novemeber, seven settlers from the illegal settler outpost of Havat Yehuda, located just above the village, arrived in Wadi Tiran, telling villages: “You have 24 hours to leave, or we will kill everyone”.
This has become the standard threat issued to herding communities across the Occupied West Bank. Fifteen of these communities have already been wiped off the map, their inhabitants succumbing to the violence and threats and fleeing in fear for the lives of their families and children.
Near Wadi Tiran there used to be the larger village of Zanuta, whose 150 residents fled their homes on 31 November under similar, persistent and violent Israeli settler threats and attacks. Though smaller, the Wadi Tiran villagers are more persistent, determined to stay on their land despite the dire threat.
| 17/11/2023 |
