Updates

On 3 March 2013, B’Tselem filed an appeal against the decision of the MAG Corps’ not to indict in the case of Eran Cohen, an Israel civilian injured by a rubber-coated metal bullet during a demonstration in Bil’in on 14 March 2008. Cohen was shot by an Israeli officer despite having done nothing to endanger the soldiers, as can be seen in two separate videos of the incident that were conveyed to the police. The MAG Corps refused to disclose to B’Tselem its reasoning for closing the case.

The mother of a resident of the village of Bil’in who was killed by a tear-gas grenade fired at him by a soldier has petitioned the High Court of Justice. The petition demands that the Military Advocate General, Major-General Danny Efroni, be ordered to reach a decision in the case and prosecute the soldier who fired the grenade and all those bearing command responsibility for the killing of her son. In the petition, which was filed jointly with Bil’in Village Council, B’Tselem and Yesh Din, Subhiya Abu Rahmah demands an urgent hearing in view of the fact that almost four years have passed since her son was killed. The incident was documented in the film Five Broken Cameras, which was a candidate for the 2013 Academy Awards.

A B’Tselem investigation indicates that on Monday, 19 November 2012, students from the Tuqu’ boys’ high school were protesting the Pillar of Defense campaign in the Gaza Strip. The school is located near Route 356, which links Bethlehem and Hebron, and some of the students were throwing stones at the road. Consequently, an Israeli military force arrived on the scene. In a video filmed by a Ma’an News Agency photographer, one of the soldiers is seen firing live ammunition at the students, even though none of the soldiers was in danger. A bullet hit one student in the abdomen. B’Tselem contacted the Military Advocate General Corps, demanding an investigation of the incident.

B'Tselem has written urgently to the IDF OC Central Command, the Commander of Military Forces in Judea and Samaria, and the Legal Advisor for Judea and Samaria, demanding that it be made unequivocally clear to soldiers and commanders in the West Bank that there is an absolute prohibition on shooting live ammunition at stone throwers. The letter follows the killing of two Palestinians and the wounding of dozens by live ammunition fired at stone throwers, and by the unlawful use of crowd control weapons, during clashes and demonstrations against operation "Pillar of Defense" in the past week.

On 15 June 2012, the Haaretz newspaper reported that, following a demonstrator’s injury in Kafr Qadum after an Israeli soldier set a dog on him, the army had decided to stop using dogs to disperse demonstrations in the West Bank. The Kafr Qadum incident was documented by a B’Tselem volunteer, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel contacted the Judea and Samaria Division Command demanding that soldiers be reminded that they are forbidden to use dogs to attack civilians in general and demonstrators in particular.

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 Friday, February 24, 2012, a demonstration against the closure of Shuhada Street to Palestinian pedestrians and vehicles was held in Hebron. Shortly before it ended, and completely unrelated to it, a funeral procession passed though the street on its way to the cemetery and encountered border police and army forces. The family tried to talk to the border police officers who were at the scene so that they would allow the procession to reach the cemetery, but to no avail. A few minutes later, a security force vehicle sprayed a foul smelling liquid (“skunk”) on the demonstrators, who had remained on the street, and on the deceased’s body and the mourners.

On 5 Jan. '12, B'Tselem wrote to the military advocate general demanding an investigation into the firing of .22-caliber bullets that hit a young Palestinian man who was throwing stones at soldiers during the weekly demonstration in a-Nabi Saleh, on 23 December 2011. B'Tselem also requested that the MAG clarify to senior commanders, to forces in the field, and to the Judea and Samaria Division’s spokesperson that using these bullets is tantamount to firing live ammunition, and is, therefore, forbidden as a crowd-control measure.

January 2012
In 2011, volunteers in B'Tselem's camera project filmed over 500 hours of footage in the West Bank. There are two minutes we collected from it, in order to sum up the passing year.