Nabi Saleh: Israeli forces ‘ambush’ demonstrators, injuring 2 with live fire

By Nabi Saleh Solidarity: 24 July 2015

On Friday in Nabi Saleh, Israeli Occupation Forces opened fire with live ammunition during Friday protest against Israel’s occupation and land grabs. The IOF shot a 17 year old boy twice in the leg with live ammunition and a 27 year old man in the thigh with live ammunition.

Video by Bilal Tamimi

Video by Israel Puterman
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Israeli forces ‘ambush’ demonstrators, injuring 2 with live fire

July 24, 2015 MAAN NEWS

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Two Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli forces Friday during a weekly demonstration in the occupied West Bank town of Nabi Saleh, witnesses said.Israeli forces had reportedly set an “ambush” near the path where demonstrators planned to walk, opening live fire as the marchers headed towards land confiscated by the neighboring Halamish settlement.During the incident, forces shot a 17-year-old with two live bullets. Witnesses say a bullet passed through one thigh, entering and settling in the teen’s other thigh, while a second bullet hit him in the back.A 27-year-old was also shot in the leg. The injured demonstrators were taken to a hospital in Ramallah for treatment.Israeli soldiers attempted to prevent the ambulance carrying those injured from leaving the scene for a short period of time, witnesses added.An Israeli army spokesperson had no immediate information on the incident.Two Palestinians have died from live Israeli fire in the past few days, bringing the total number of fatalities at the hands of Israeli forces to 17 since the start of 2015.Rights groups have criticized Israel for disproportionate use of force against unarmed civilians during demonstrations.While crowd control weapons are intended to be non-lethal, many methods used by Israeli forces can cause death, severe injury, and damage to property, critics say.Residents of Nabi Saleh — similar to villages and towns across the occupied West Bank — have staged weekly demonstrations for years in protest of private land confiscated by Israeli authorities.Large portions of the Jewish-only Halamish settlement is built on land belonging to Nabi Saleh residents.

(TamimiPress/File)

Manal Tamimi shot in leg by Israeli Occupation Forces – 3 April 2014

By Nabi Saleh Solidarity: 4 April 2015
Video by Israel Puterman:

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened fire with live 2.2 ammunition on unarmed demonstraters in Nabi Saleh. Manal Tamimi suffered a fracture leg as a result of being shot in the leg with the live ammunition by the IOF. Another protester, Mohammed was also shot in the leg with the live ammunition. According to reports from activists in Nabi Saleh, the live ammuniton hit a nerve and he needed emergency surgery. Photo by: Sarit Micheali

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PHOTOS: Soldiers fire live ammo, wound two in Nabi Saleh protest

Photos and report: Anne Paq / Activestills.org : +972 Magazine: 5 April 2015

Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition against nonviolent Palestinian protesters in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on Friday. Two Palestinians were wounded, including activist Manal Tamimi.

Tamimi was shot in her leg as she was standing and talking to her friends, only minutes after the protest had begun, along with another young Palestinian. Both were transferred to a Ramallah hospital where they received treatment for their wounds.

Activists report that the army has stepped up its use of live ammunition in the village over the past few months. Nariman Tamimi, a prominent activist in the village’s Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, was shot with live ammunition on November 22, 2014. She is still recovering.

Nonviolent protests in Nabi Saleh began in 2009 after residents from the nearby settlement Halamish took took control over the Ein al-Qaws spring — owned by a resident of the village — preventing Palestinian access to their land.

Nabi Saleh: Videos, reports & photos (1st – 16th January 2015)

Video: 2 January 2015

by David Reeb

Reports & Photos: 16 January 2015

Report from Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Local and International protesters participated in the peaceful weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh. The reprisals didn’t made wait. The patients demonstrators suffered again the Israeli violence. The soldiers shot protesters with live bullets, pushing back them. Moreover, threw tear gas bombs leaving tens wounded. But, in spite of this, the demonstration continued shouting for stopping the violence, collective punishment and terror against humanity which Israel practice every day against Palestinians

ISM Report: Live ammunition used at Nabi Saleh demonstration

16th January 2015 | International Solidarity Movement | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine

For five years now, residents of Nabi Saleh have been denied access to their spring. A source of irrigation for their crops, as well as a place for recreation: al-Qaws spring was the heart of this farming community.

The illegal settlement of Halamish was established on the land of Nabi Saleh, and the neighbouring village of Deir Nidham in 1977; since then, and particularly in recent years, the settlement has been growing, stealing more land, and finally denying the villagers access to their spring.

For five years, every Friday, residents of Nabi Saleh gather with local supporters, Israeli and international activists, to protest against the theft of their land and the denial of access to the spring. Sometimes, with bravery and determination alone, these villagers have managed to reach the spring, stealing a few precious moments before the arrests and reprisals reach their climax. Most of the time, the repression from the Israeli Occupation Forces is too great to get anywhere close.

Today in Nabi Saleh the villagers gathered at the petrol station on the edge of the village; undeterred by the rain, they were ready for the weekly demonstration. The weekly show of strength and determination to fight for what is rightfully theirs.

We walked down the road, men, women, and children chanting in Arabic and English, voicing our common determination to end this occupation. The Israeli military were waiting at the bottom of the road, blockading the access to the village. As soon as we were in range the tear gas started. A peaceful march met with poisonous tear gas from the very beginning. Many attempted to throw and kick the smoking toxic canisters away, but the sheer quantity meant we had to retreat quickly.

As the smoke cleared, we tried to walk forwards once more. But then the unmistakable crack of live ammunition. We ran back. Without provocation, live ammunition was aimed at a group of peaceful protestors. Fortunately this time the bullet didn’t find a body, but the Israeli Occupation Forces lack of respect for human life is truly frightening.

Two months ago four protestors were injured at this peaceful demonstration, adding to a long list of villagers who have been hurt or killed by Israeli military bullets whilst trying to fight for their rights. The army have been using live ammunition at this group of families and demonstrators more and more frequently during the last year. So the villagers’ weekly demonstration to struggle for their most basic rights – land and water – has been reduced to a short walk to become the target of bullets. Each week villagers risk their lives because they will never accept the theft of their land. Each week they are shot at because they want access to the spring which has been the source of life for their community for generations.

Four injured by live ammunition as Israeli occupation forces attack weekly protest in Nabi Saleh

Nabi Saleh Solidarity – 21 November 2014

Residents of Nabi Saleh and their supporters once again protested Israel’s ongoing occupation. The unarmed protesters were attacked by Israeli Occupation forces resulting in four injuries from live ammunition, as well as many injuries gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets and several cases of tear gas inhalation.

Photos by Bilal Tamimi

Maan News: Israeli forces declare Nabi Saleh ‘military zone,’ injure 2 people

by Maan News: 12 April 2014

(MaanImages)

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli forces surrounded the central West Bank village of Nabi Saleh and declared it a “closed military zone” on Saturday, subsequently injuring two Palestinian civilians, a local group said.

The attack by Israeli forces comes a day after Israeli forces detained five — including two Palestinian women and three foreign journalists — and lightly injured a French journalist during a protest in the village, which has held weekly protests for four years against Israeli confiscation of village lands.

Israeli forces arrived “suddenly” on Saturday to close the village entrances and then targeted locals nearby, shooting a young man with a live bullet and injuring a 45-year-old woman after beating her, local popular resistance group “Intifada” said in a statement.

The woman was identified as Wijdan al-Tamimi, while the injured young man was not identified.

After declaring the area a “closed military zone,” Israeli forces shut the main streets of the village, closing an iron gate on the main road and placing boulders on other roads so as to prevent Palestinian traffic.

Additionally, they fired stun grenades into the village’s streets, damaging a number of cars, the group said.

The group said that the attack was part of an escalation in military violence against the village in recent months.

The village is the site of weekly protests against the Israeli occupation, with residents demanding that lands confiscated by Israeli forces to build a settlement be returned to them.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said that “as a result of a violent riot” on Saturday afternoon, “one of the two gates of Nabi Saleh was temporarily closed.”

APRIL 4: demonstration in support of Palestinian political prisoners

by Nabi Saleh Solidarity: 4 April 2014

Popular protests in Nabi Saleh, Nilin and Bilin today have been replaced with the central march outside Ofer prison, in support of Palestinian political prisoners.

Activists reported that several hundred Palestinians from villages across the West Bank (including Nabi Saleh, Bilin and Nilin) have demonstrated out of Ofer Prison in support of Palestinian political prisoners. Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have open fired with tear gas, rubber coated steal bullets and live ammunition. Reports of at least 5 protestors injured, including at least 2 women shot directly from two meters away. Muhamad Yassin from Bil’in has been shot twice – in the face and stomach – and is currently undergoing surgery.

Photo by Active Stills

Photo by Jihad Qade

Photo by Quique Kierszenbaum

Photo: Muhammed Yassin from Bilin injured in face and stomach

Video: Nabi Saleh Friday protest – 14 March 2014

Video by Bilal Tamimi

Video by Israel Puterman

22 year old Nabi Saleh resident shot in leg with live ammunition by Israeli Occupation Forces

by Nabi Saleh Solidarity: 17 July 2013

Israeli Occupation Forces invaded Nabi Saleh at around Iftar (the breaking of the fast each day during Ramadan). Mahmoud Tamimi (aged 22) was shot in the leg with live ammunition by Israeli forces in his village. The IOF refused to allow him to be evacuated for medical treatment, leaving him lying on the ground bleeding. Mahmoud was eventually evacuated to hospital in Ramallah, where doctors confirmed that the bullet had severed an artery. Mahmoud has undergone surgery and remains in hospital. During their attack on Nabi Saleh, the Israeli Occupation Forces also attacked the Bilal Tamimi, beat him and broke his camera.

Mahmoud Tamimi in ambulance about to be evacuated. Photograph by Manal Tamimi.

Nabi Saleh stands in solidarity with Aboud village and Palestinian martyr, Mohammed Asfour

On Friday 8 March and Friday 15th March, the residents of Nabi Saleh did not hold their weekly march in the village.On March 8, the residents of Nabi Saleh and their supporters joined the funeral for the martyr Mohammed ‘Asfour, 22 years, who died on Thursday March 7 as a result of being shot with a steel coated rubber bullet on February 22nd by the Israeli Occupation Forces with a rubber coat steel bullet. Mohammed funeral was attacked by Israel Occupation Forces who fired teargas and steel coated rubber bullets at funeral goers.

On Friday, 15 March, the residents of Nabi Saleh and their supporters joined the Nabi Saleh joined the nearby demonstration in Aboud village to commemorate Mohammed Asfour. The demonstration was attacked by the IOF.

Below is a report and photos from French activist and photographer, Anne Paq on the March 8 funeral of Mohammed Asfour from her blog, Chroniques de Palestine: popular resistance and human rights.

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Another funeral in Palestine: Muhammad Asfour from Abud village 08.03.2013

by Anne Paq: Chroniques de Palestine- Popular resistance and human rights

Clashes erupted between Palestinian youth and the Israeli army following the funeral procession of Muhammad Asfour in the West Bank village of Abud, March 8, 2013.

Muhammad Asfour, 23, was shot in his head by a rubber coated steel bullet by an Israeli soldier, on February 22, 2013, during clashes in the entrance to his home village of Abud, northwest of Ramallah, during a solidarity protest with the hunger striking Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
Asfour succumbed to his fatal injury after 2 weeks in the hospital.

The same day of his funeral; two other Palestinians were critically shot in Hebron and North of Gaza.

Haaretz: IDF probe: 80 bullets fired without justification in death of West Bank Palestinian, Rushdi Tamimi

By Chaim Levinson and Jack Khoury | Jan.16, 2013

|Investigation finds no reason to use live ammunition in the November shooting death of Rushdie Tamimi, 31, in Nabi Saleh, in the West Bank.

An IDF probe has concluded that in November, Israeli soldiers fired 80 bullets without justification causing the death of a Palestinian man shot in the back during clashes in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.

Rushdie Tamimi, 31, was killed when a group of Palestinians in the village began throwing stones toward a road from a long distance, and an army reserve unit tried to disperse them.

The army probe of the November 19 shooting in Nabi Saleh arrived at harsh conclusions regarding the conduct of the IDF company commander and the reserve unit called in to disperse the stone-throwers.

While events were still unfolding, Channel 10 reported that the commander had been relieved of his duties following the shooting. The probe conducted by the army’s Central Command found that the commander had been driving in the vicinity when he saw some 10 youths throwing rocks from a hilltop.

The probe determined that the youths were too far from the road to constitute any real danger. Nevertheless, the commander summoned about 10 reserve soldiers from a nearby army outpost and instructed them to disperse the youths.

However, he neglected to report this immediately to battalion headquarters, which was only 50 meters away.

It turned out that the commander did not report the shooting incident at all, until
Haaretz approached the IDF spokesman two days later for a response to the incident. The army investigation found that the soldiers had fired tear gas at the stone-throwers for an hour and a half. When they ran out of canisters, a medic was sent by jeep to the adjacent outpost to bring back some more. At that point, the commander instructed the soldiers to use live rounds.

They fired 80 bullets, one of which hit Tamimi in the back. For several minutes, the soldiers prevented anyone from giving him medical aid, until they relented. Tamimi was evacuated to a hospital in Ramallah, where he died two days later.

The investigation found there was no reason to use live ammunition. Even when the order was given, the commander did not clearly indicate the target and the reason for opening fire. In professional terms, the troops did not “control the fire.”

The commander claimed the soldiers had not noticed that anyone had been hit, which is why they prevented anyone from approaching Tamimi to provide medical aid. This seemed a dubious claim, though, since the victim was bleeding from the head.

Nabi Saleh has been the scene of frequent weekend protests against settler incursions on villagers’ water supply. The stone-throwing that preceded Tamimi’s death took place during Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza.

The army sees the incident as a “failure of values,” and the Military Police’s investigation branch has opened a formal inquiry into the fatal shooting.

On Tuesday, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was shot to death by Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the West Bank village of Budrus, Palestinian sources said. Samir Awad was shot four times in the torso and legs, sources said. He is the fourth Palestinian killed by IDF fire in the last week.

The incidents came a day after Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man in the Gaza town of Beit Lahiya near the border with Israel. Gazan officials said Mustafa Abu Jarad, 21, was a farmer. He was taken to Shifa hospital, where doctors said he died from his wounds.

The Israel-Gaza frontier has been mostly calm since November, when eight days of Palestinian rocket fire and Israeli air strikes killed 170 Palestinians and six Israelis.

Since then, four Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli troops along the Gaza border, most of them in an area Israel has deemed off-limits for several years, citing the risk of attacks on soldier