Updates

Today, over 14 months since Lubna al-Hanash was killed on 23 Jan. 2013 by shots soldiers fired near al-‘Arrub RC, her father petitioned the HCJ with B’Tselem to oblige the MAG to decide whether to charge the perpetrators. Al-Hanash was shot in the head while strolling with a relative in the gardens of a college campus near Route 60. B’Tselem found that the two women posed no danger and that shooting at them was unjustified. The MAG’s prolonged delay violates the family’s rights by reducing the chances of an effective criminal procedure.

In an op-ed for JTA, B'Tselem's Executive Director responds to the recent controversy in the United States around the phrase "occupied territories." The words “military occupation” might sound harsh to the ear. Yet the reality is indeed harsh. Millions of Palestinians have lived for almost half a century under military rule, denied basic rights and subject to the whims of a government they did not elect and have no ability to influence. Acknowledging that the West Bank is presently subject to military occupation is not a statement of policy. It is a statement of fact.

Noam Rabinovich's comic strip was inspired by the testimony of Maha Hijawi, an interior designer who owns an engineering company in Nablus, where she lives with her husband and children. The testimony was included in the report "So Near and Yet So Far", which describes Israel's isolationist policy towards the Gaza Strip. B'Tselem entrusted five women illustrators with the stories of five women who appear in the report. This is the fourth graphic interpretation in the series. The fifth will be uploaded in the near future.

Ahmad ‘Awad, whose son Samir was killed by soldiers near the Separation Barrier in Budrus, petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice together with B’Tselem to oblige the MAG to decide whether to prosecute the soldiers who killed his son. The petitioners said that every day that goes by without a decision reduces the chance that effective criminal procedures be taken, in an ever-increasing infringement of the petitioners ’ rights and with growing harm to the rule of law and public interest in bringing offenders to justice.

In an article in the Huffington Post, B'Tselem's Executive Director uses the recent conflict around displaying a Palestinian flag in Hebron as a metaphor for the broader situation: "Hebron is an extreme version, but the contours of what we see in Hebron are visible throughout the West Bank: two separate and discriminatory legal systems in force, with settlers enjoying all the rights of the Israeli democracy and even added perks and benefits, while Palestinians are subject to military law. It is a rotten system, one that inherently violates Palestinian rights and has a corrosive effect on the Israeli democracy."

On 17 March The military cancelled the family visits–permitted once every 2-3 months–to Gazans being held in Israel. In view of rocket-fire from Gaza targeting communities in southern Israel, the military announced on 12 Mar. 2014 that passage through Erez Crossing would be restricted to humanitarian cases and Kerem Shalom Crossing would be closed. This led to even greater power shortages in Gaza as Israel held up delivery of diesel to power Gaza’s electric plant. B’Tselem calls on Israel to refrain from collective punishment of Gaza residents.

The IDF Spokesperson announced that, following rocket fire from Gaza aimed at communities in southern Israel, Kerem Shalom Crossing would be closed and Erez Crossing limited to cases that the military defines humanitarian. Closing the crossings will also have a severe effect on electricity supply in the Gaza Strip, as tomorrow Israel is supposed to transfer 500,000 liters of diesel fuel that Gaza has purchased. It is Israel’s duty to protect its borders and residents; however, that does not justify such harsh measures against all residents of the Gaza Strip who are not involved in the hostilities.

In the past 14 months 5 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by soldiers in ambush. The latest fatality is Saji Darwish, killed in Beitin yesterday by a live bullet in what the military classified "an ambush to catch stone throwers”. The military did not say whether the soldiers had crowd control weapons or live ammunition only. The military must launch a criminal investigation of the incident and the directives the soldiers received, and also discontinue ambushes for unarmed stone-throwers in which soldiers carry only lethal weapons.

In honor of this year’s International Women’s Day, we launched a special project to highlight women’s perspective on the fight to counteract human right violations in the West Bank and Gaza. The project is part of an endeavor to show the unique way in which Palestinian women experience violations of their rights. We invite you to join us and meet the women at B’Tselem.