Israeli Occupation Forces appear to be increasing their stranglehold over the village of Beit Ommar. Yesterday, several hundred meters of agricultural land belonging to Popular Committee member Ahmed Abu Maria was bulldozed near the Israeli settlement Karmi Tsur. The military seems to be laying a path from the edge of the settlement into Beit Ommar, presumably to allow military vehicles to have direct access from the settlement to the center of the village.
The Israeli Military has been increasing its use of this small illegal settlement, population approx. 700, as a de facto military base; most recently using it as a temporary jail for Palestinians arrested without charge from … Continue reading

Last night at approximately 6pm Israeli soldiers, wearing black masks and heavily armed, invaded the homes of the Abu Ayyesh family, near the watchtower, and Sabarnah family on Route 60. The head of the Abu Ayyesh family is an elderly man with a heart condition. The current mayor of the village contacted members of the Popular Committee and PSP who immediately went to the home and attempted to gain entry. Soldiers in the house demanded the I.D’s of the members of the Popular Committee and Palestinian activists from PSP. They were holding the family in one room of the house, with all of the lights out. They said … Continue reading

Christian Peacemaker Teams: At-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills
On Saturday, February 23nd, Israeli soldiers and settlers harassed and threatened Palestinian shepherds grazing their flocks. Several Palestinian shepherds from the village of At-Tuwani and nearby villages in the South Hebron Hills attempted to graze their flocks on Palestinian land near the illegal Israeli settlement outpost of Havot Ma’on. Soldiers arrived and took the ID of one of the shepherds, threatening arrest. A number of sheep were injured, including one when a soldier kicked the sheep, breaking its teeth. Settlers from Havot Ma’on harassed the shepherds and tried to chase away the flocks.

On Sunday, February 24rd, Israeli soldiers again tried to prevent Palestinian shepherds from At-Tuwani from … Continue reading

On February 18th shortly after the Israeli military left after a multi-day invasion of the village of Beit Ommar Sakhar Hisham Abu Maria, a young boy in his early teens, was seriously injured when he picked up an explosive device that was left by the Israeli soldiers and it exploded in his hand. Parts of two fingers and his thumb were blown off. Sakhar was taken to a hospital in Hebron. Locals report that he picked up a sound grenade that the Israeli Occupations Forces left behind, unexploded. Previously, sound grenades used by the IOF were easily identifiable because of their bright orange color. However, the sound grenades … Continue reading

Jerusalem / PNN – Yesterday throngs of people held a sit-in at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in East Jerusalem’s Old City. The occasion was a day of solidarity with the people of Gaza, under intense siege by the Israeli government and its forces.

Bishop Attallah Hanna, the Archbishop of the Roman Orthodox Church, began with a prayer “in support of our people,” and “to lift the siege on our people in the Gaza Strip.”

Jerusalem itself is under heavy siege by the Israeli government and its forces which are creating new facts on the ground in contravention to international law and the United Nations, including settlement building and expansion, Wall construction which is cutting off the city from the rest … Continue reading

Today, as the residents of Bil’in commemorated their 3rd year of consecutive non-violent resistance to the Apartheid Wall, two other villages in the Betlehem courageously continued their struggles against the Wall as well. Residents of the South Betlehem villages gathered on the land of Um Salamuna along with their supporters and began marching towards a barbed-wire barrier Israeli soldiers erected across their path. When demonstrators approached Israeli soldiers began beating them with clubs and the butts of their rifles. Two children, aged 7 and 9, were hospitalized, one with a broken hand from the beating of the soldiers who prevented activists from marching or even standing still. A member … Continue reading

For several days the Israeli army has continued its harassment of the residents of Beit Ommar. On February 18, soldiers entered the village at approximately 10 am. They ransacked several houses and then moved on to the city council office that is in charge of issuing id’s and other legal documents. Soldiers tore apart files, destroyed the office’s computer, pulled fixtures from the walls and damaged furniture. On the same day they demolished a shed built adjacent to a home on the outskirts of town, declaring that this structure of corrugated metal was built “without a permit”.

They have been occupying several homes … Continue reading

The promised week-long curfew by the Israeli Occupation Forces did not come to fruition. Though soldiers have not returned since their massive incursion, the more than 50 people who were taken have not been released and there is still no indication as to what will be charged with, if anything. The seven roads closed remain blocked, for now.

At approximately 1 am this morning over 100 soldiers and more than 2 dozen jeeps, humvees, and APC’s invaded Beit Ommar. They came with two bulldozers and first closed the street connecting Beit Ommar to the neighboring Palestinian area of Saffa. They also closed off all areas near the Karmi Tsur settlement and blocked dirt paths in the area that farmers use for their tractors. Seven streets in total have been closed off.
The Israeli Occupation Forces announced a village-wide curfew and stated that anyone leaving their homes would be shot. They then began making house to house searches, arresting men, ransacking homes, breaking down doors and ordering … Continue reading

At 9pm Saturday evening four Israeli Occupation Forces jeeps entered Beit Ommar, closing the gate and locking the residents in. They then cut the electricity to the village, plunging the streets into darkness. In what has become an all too common occurrence in this small town in the southern West Bank, soldiers began arbitrarily shooting. For 2 hours, tear gas, sound grenades, and live ammunition were shot indiscriminately in the streets and onto the roofs of houses. Two teenagers, Ahmed Mohammed Ikhlayl and Ra’ed Al-Badil were both shot with live ammunition. As ambulances arrived to take them to Hebron, the Israeli military stopped them and prevented them from treating the two young men. Instead, … Continue reading