Updates

Read Uri Zaki's op-ed in The New York Jewish Week, "Celebrate Israel in its Entirety."

A new film that was obtained by B'Tselem shows the minutes that preceded the violent incident in which the Former Jordan Valley Brigade deputy commander assaulted international and Palestinian protesters. In response, B'Tselem Executive Director Jessica Montell, said: "The video disproves claims that the soldiers responded to violence by the activists. This severe case of violence illustrates the sense of impunity felt by the deputy brigade commander. In fact Israeli security forces are almost never held accountable for violence against Palestinians."

On 12 April 2012, the Hamas authorities in Gaza executed three Palestinians sentenced to death by Gaza courts. Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza, 32 people have been sentenced to death, and ten people have been executed. B’Tselem condemns the use of capital punishment as immoral and a violation of the right to life. Regardless of the crime, such punishment has no place on the law books.

Are you tired of your uncle depicting you as the “wicked child” at the Passover Seder table just because you are willing to ask the tough questions about human rights in Israel and the occupied territories? The answer is not to become the “silent child.”

On 29 March 2012 dozens of settlers took over a building’s third floor in the Old City of Hebron. On 2 April 2012 the army issued an evacuation order instructing the settlers to leave by the following morning. On 4 April 2012 the security services evacuated the new settlement and sealed the entrances. Since then, the army has placed a guard on the building. The settlement points in Hebron were created in violation of international law and seriously interfere with the human rights of the Palestinian residents. Hence, Israel is legally and morally obliged to evacuate the Hebron settlers and return them to its own territory.

During the last year, B’Tselem has documented eight cases of Military dogs attacking and injuring citizens. The army’s use of dogs against civilians is improper and dangerous and could lead to severe and disproportionate injury to unarmed civilians. B’Tselem urges army commanders to immediately change the existing policy and prohibit the use of dogs to attack civilians, before any more people are injured.

B’Tselem has received testimony raising suspicion that Muhammad Maharmeh, 22, of Hebron, was abused at length by IDF soldiers. On 11 March 2012, soldiers went to the Maharmeh home in the Old City of Hebron and assaulted Muhammad and his father Ishaq, 50. According to their testimony, the soldiers took the two to an army base, where Muhammad was abused for several hours while his father, held separately, could hear him screaming. B’Tselem has called on the Military Police Investigation Unit to open an investigation into this incident.

The Civil Administration issued demolition orders recently against alternative energy structures in six villages in the Masafer Yatta area of the southern Hebron Hills, which have no other source of power. The 500 residents live in Area C of the West Bank under full Israeli control. Costing some 216,000 Euros, the structures were funded by international donors. Such demolitions are part of Israel’s overall policy of reducing the Palestinian population of Area C, totally contradicting its public pronouncements and international obligations.

The annual report surveys the broad spectrum of issues regarding the Israeli authorities' human rights record in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the past year, the 44th year of the Israeli occupation. An interactive version of the report is available online and distributed through social media. The report documents a sharp increase in the number of uninvolved Palestinians killed by the Israeli security forces in the Gaza Strip in 2011. There was also an increase in the number of Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians, compared to 2010.