The order may be used against Gazans living for years in the West Bank while Israel has refused to update their address, and against foreign citizens married to West Bank residents whom Israel has denied family unification.
B'Tselem strongly condemns the execution today of two Palestinians convicted of collaboration with Israel, by the Hamas government in Gaza. The death penalty is immoral and violates the basic right to life of every human being. B'Tselem holds that under no circumstance must it be imposed.
The sweeping order defines all the Bil'in and Ni'lin village lands a closed military area every Friday, raising suspicion that its purpose is to prevent the demonstrations themselves, and not only unlawful actions carried out during them.
The details exposed in Blau's article raise the suspicion that soldiers were given unlawful orders to kill suspects even in non-life-threatening situations and when arrest was possible. However, none of those involved have been questioned and the senior officers who gave the orders remain in their positions.
Following the removal of the gag order imposed in Israel on the publication of details about the charges against Israeli Journalist Anat Kamm, B'Tselem wishes to reiterate that the case hinges on documents that raise grave suspicions that the Israeli military conducted assassination operations in the West Bank, under the guise of arrest operations. This, in contrast to official Israeli statements, and in violation of an Israeli High Court ruling.
On 20 March '10, soldiers killed two youths in 'Iraq Burin. Demonstrations had taken place in the village that day. B'Tselem's findings contradict the army's statement that the soldiers had shot only "rubber" bullets. In a rare step, the Military Police will investigate the incident
The discriminatory division of the shared water resources infringes the Palestinians' right to water, to sanitation, and to health. Israel's policy also infringes the Palestinians' right to gain a livelihood, in that the water shortage prevents development of agriculture, one of the most important economic sectors in the West Bank.
On 10 February 2010, soldiers shot Muhammad Subuh, 17, near the Gaza-Israel border, wounding him. Testimonies given to B'Tselem indicate that, while Subuh was gathering firewood, soldiers opened fire without warning and while their lives were not in danger. The shooting is consistent with previous reports of the existence of "death zones" that the army has established adjacent to the border.
B'Tselem severely condemns the rocket fire at a civilian community in Israel, which today killed a Thai citizen who was working in the greenhouses of the Nativ Ha'asara Moshav. The Palestinian organizations responsible for firing the rockets openly declare that they intend to attack, among others, civilians. Attacks aimed at civilians are immoral and illegal, and the intentional killing of civilians is a grave breach under the Fourth Geneva Convention, a war crime.
Today (18 March '10), the military prosecution appealed the light punishment imposed on First Lt. Adam Malul last week for assaulting Palestinians, demanding he be demoted to private and sentenced to prison. B'Tselem welcomed the appeal against the sentence, which sanctioned the norm of violence against Palestinians in the OPT.
Beit Lahiya lies near the northern border of the Gaza Strip, where Israel began its invasion in Operation Cast Lead. Pupils of a school in the town that suffered heavy fire are still studying among the ruins, as the Israeli siege is preventing reconstruction throughout Gaza.
Continuing the trend of delegitimizing human rights organizations in Israel, MK's from the Right and Center are promoting a bill that will ostensibly ensure transparency, but will effectively impede the freedom of action of these organizations.
Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation is inextricably bound up in human rights violations. B’Tselem strives to end this regime, as that is the only way forward to a future in which human rights, democracy, liberty and equality are ensured to all people, both Palestinian and Israeli, living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, Israel has acted in a coordinated and deliberate manner to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip, committing genocide against its residents. In light of Israel’s actions in Gaza, the public statements made by Israeli decision-makers, and the international community’s failure to take effective action, there is a serious risk that the Israeli regime will expand the genocide to other areas under its control—first and foremost, the West Bank.
B’Tselem calls on the Israeli public and the international community to use every tool available under international law to bring an immediate end to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.