19 oct 2019
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has published a new picture showing four Israeli captive soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
The photo contains a message to the Israeli occupation state saying in Arabic and Hebrew “Your soldiers are still in Gaza.”
The soldiers in the photo are Shaul Oron, Hadar Goldin, Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.
Al-Qassam Brigades released the photo on the eighth anniversary of the 2011 prisoner swap deal known locally as “Wafa al-Ahrar.” The deal led to the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier called Gilad Shalit.
The photo contains a message to the Israeli occupation state saying in Arabic and Hebrew “Your soldiers are still in Gaza.”
The soldiers in the photo are Shaul Oron, Hadar Goldin, Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.
Al-Qassam Brigades released the photo on the eighth anniversary of the 2011 prisoner swap deal known locally as “Wafa al-Ahrar.” The deal led to the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier called Gilad Shalit.
19 sept 2019
Families of Palestinians slain by Israel protest to demand the return of their bodies in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on 27 August
A Palestinian family in the Jerusalem-area village of al-Eizariya has been unable to bury their 14-year-old son, who was killed by Israeli police last month.
Nassim Abu Rumi’s family has petitioned Israel’s high court to order the release of his body, which will be reportedly transferred on Friday. Israel will also be transferring the remains of Omar Younis, who died in an Israeli hospital in April after being shot by occupation forces at a West Bank checkpoint.
Israel is holding the remains of more than a dozen Palestinians recently killed during alleged and actual attacks on occupation forces and civilians.
This month, following a petition by several families whose relatives’ remains are being held by Israel, the country’s highest court rubber-stamped its approval of the policy.
The court ruled that Israel’s military has “the legal right to hold on to the bodies of slain terrorists for use as leverage in future negotiations with Palestinians,” as The Times of Israel reported.
In December 2017, the court stated that Israel has no legal authority to hold bodies “until consent to certain funeral arrangements is given” by a slain Palestinian’s family.
Israel “cannot hold on to corpses for the purposes of negotiations at a time when there is no specific and explicit law that allows it to do so,” the judges stated at the time.
The following year, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law allowing police to withhold the bodies of Palestinians killed while allegedly carrying out attacks on Israelis.
The law authorizes police commanders to withhold a body if it is determined the slain person’s funeral “could be used to carry out an attack or provide a platform for praising terrorism,” according to The Times of Israel.
“We have no need for them”
Public security minister Gilad Erdan, who oversees Israel’s police, said at the time of the law’s passing that “The government doesn’t want to hold on to these bodies. As far as we are concerned, the bodies of these cursed terrorists will rot. We have no need for them.”
The Israeli high court’s ruling this month, however, shows that the state intends to use the bodies as bargaining chips to secure the remains of Israeli soldiers held by Palestinians.
Human rights groups refute the high court’s claim that withholding Palestinian bodies is permissible under international humanitarian law, which governs armed conflict.
Adalah, a group that advocates for the rights of Palestinians in Israel, said the ruling was among the “most extreme” ever made by the court, “as it undermines the most basic principles of universal humanity.”
The rights group added that the court ruling is the first anywhere in the world permitting state authorities to hold bodies so that they may be used as bargaining chips.
“The practice of withholding bodies amounts to a policy of collective punishment,” which is prohibited under international law, the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq stated.
The withholding of bodies is also “contrary to the prohibition on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment,” Al-Haq added.
The families who petitioned the court stated that they “will consider appealing to international courts in an effort to do everything possible to recover the bodies of their loved ones.”
Left to bleed to death
Video shows that Nassim Abu Rumi was killed moments after he and another Palestinian child, holding kitchen knives, lunged at Israeli police officers in Jerusalem’s Old City on 15 August.
Officers opened fire at the boys as a matter of first resort, making no use of less-lethal means to detain them.
The other boy was seriously injured and has been charged with attempted murder. A Palestinian bystander was injured during the incident, and one officer was lightly wounded by the youths.
Videos from the scene do not show any attempt to administer first aid to either of the boys after they were shot by police. Video shows an officer receiving treatment.
A human rights group is demanding an investigation by Israel’s health ministry into another case of a suspected Palestinian assailant being left to bleed to death, even though a police physician was at the scene.
Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan was shot by police during what they thought was an attempted car-ramming attack during a raid on Umm al-Hiran, a Bedouin village in southern Israel that is not recognized by the state.
Analysis published by the UK-based research group Forensic Architecture indicates that contrary to claims from Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abu al-Qiyan was not attempting any such attack when police opened fire on his vehicle in January 2017.
Forensic Architecture’s findings indicate that Abu al-Qiyan, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was driving slowly and his vehicle only accelerated after he was shot at by police, suggesting he had lost control of his car.
A recently concluded internal police probe cleared the police physician of negligence.
Human rights groups say that the failure of the police physician to administer first-aid to Abu al-Qiyan “is not a localized failure, but a systemic problem.”
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel stated that “Vague procedures for caring for injured parties in scenes suspected as scenes of a terrorist attack allow for situations in which injured parties suspected as perpetrators do not receive care.”
“Physicians cannot act as judge and jury,” the group added. “Physicians and other medical staff must treat all injured parties according to triage principles.”
In its investigation of a pattern of unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces, Amnesty International stated that the failure to administer first aid – “especially intentional failure – violates the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.”
The human rights organization added that “As such, failure to provide medical aid should be investigated as a criminal offense.”
On Wednesday, a Palestinian woman was shot by Israeli forces at a West Bank checkpoint and left to bleed to death in the street.
Eyewitnesses said that the woman was denied first aid. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that Israeli forces prevented paramedics from reaching her.
A Palestinian family in the Jerusalem-area village of al-Eizariya has been unable to bury their 14-year-old son, who was killed by Israeli police last month.
Nassim Abu Rumi’s family has petitioned Israel’s high court to order the release of his body, which will be reportedly transferred on Friday. Israel will also be transferring the remains of Omar Younis, who died in an Israeli hospital in April after being shot by occupation forces at a West Bank checkpoint.
Israel is holding the remains of more than a dozen Palestinians recently killed during alleged and actual attacks on occupation forces and civilians.
This month, following a petition by several families whose relatives’ remains are being held by Israel, the country’s highest court rubber-stamped its approval of the policy.
The court ruled that Israel’s military has “the legal right to hold on to the bodies of slain terrorists for use as leverage in future negotiations with Palestinians,” as The Times of Israel reported.
In December 2017, the court stated that Israel has no legal authority to hold bodies “until consent to certain funeral arrangements is given” by a slain Palestinian’s family.
Israel “cannot hold on to corpses for the purposes of negotiations at a time when there is no specific and explicit law that allows it to do so,” the judges stated at the time.
The following year, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law allowing police to withhold the bodies of Palestinians killed while allegedly carrying out attacks on Israelis.
The law authorizes police commanders to withhold a body if it is determined the slain person’s funeral “could be used to carry out an attack or provide a platform for praising terrorism,” according to The Times of Israel.
“We have no need for them”
Public security minister Gilad Erdan, who oversees Israel’s police, said at the time of the law’s passing that “The government doesn’t want to hold on to these bodies. As far as we are concerned, the bodies of these cursed terrorists will rot. We have no need for them.”
The Israeli high court’s ruling this month, however, shows that the state intends to use the bodies as bargaining chips to secure the remains of Israeli soldiers held by Palestinians.
Human rights groups refute the high court’s claim that withholding Palestinian bodies is permissible under international humanitarian law, which governs armed conflict.
Adalah, a group that advocates for the rights of Palestinians in Israel, said the ruling was among the “most extreme” ever made by the court, “as it undermines the most basic principles of universal humanity.”
The rights group added that the court ruling is the first anywhere in the world permitting state authorities to hold bodies so that they may be used as bargaining chips.
“The practice of withholding bodies amounts to a policy of collective punishment,” which is prohibited under international law, the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq stated.
The withholding of bodies is also “contrary to the prohibition on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment,” Al-Haq added.
The families who petitioned the court stated that they “will consider appealing to international courts in an effort to do everything possible to recover the bodies of their loved ones.”
Left to bleed to death
Video shows that Nassim Abu Rumi was killed moments after he and another Palestinian child, holding kitchen knives, lunged at Israeli police officers in Jerusalem’s Old City on 15 August.
Officers opened fire at the boys as a matter of first resort, making no use of less-lethal means to detain them.
The other boy was seriously injured and has been charged with attempted murder. A Palestinian bystander was injured during the incident, and one officer was lightly wounded by the youths.
Videos from the scene do not show any attempt to administer first aid to either of the boys after they were shot by police. Video shows an officer receiving treatment.
A human rights group is demanding an investigation by Israel’s health ministry into another case of a suspected Palestinian assailant being left to bleed to death, even though a police physician was at the scene.
Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan was shot by police during what they thought was an attempted car-ramming attack during a raid on Umm al-Hiran, a Bedouin village in southern Israel that is not recognized by the state.
Analysis published by the UK-based research group Forensic Architecture indicates that contrary to claims from Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abu al-Qiyan was not attempting any such attack when police opened fire on his vehicle in January 2017.
Forensic Architecture’s findings indicate that Abu al-Qiyan, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was driving slowly and his vehicle only accelerated after he was shot at by police, suggesting he had lost control of his car.
A recently concluded internal police probe cleared the police physician of negligence.
Human rights groups say that the failure of the police physician to administer first-aid to Abu al-Qiyan “is not a localized failure, but a systemic problem.”
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel stated that “Vague procedures for caring for injured parties in scenes suspected as scenes of a terrorist attack allow for situations in which injured parties suspected as perpetrators do not receive care.”
“Physicians cannot act as judge and jury,” the group added. “Physicians and other medical staff must treat all injured parties according to triage principles.”
In its investigation of a pattern of unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces, Amnesty International stated that the failure to administer first aid – “especially intentional failure – violates the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.”
The human rights organization added that “As such, failure to provide medical aid should be investigated as a criminal offense.”
On Wednesday, a Palestinian woman was shot by Israeli forces at a West Bank checkpoint and left to bleed to death in the street.
Eyewitnesses said that the woman was denied first aid. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that Israeli forces prevented paramedics from reaching her.
10 sept 2019
Israel’s so-called High Court of Justice has ruled that the military can withhold bodies of the Palestinians that it kills to grant the Tel Aviv regime leverage in future negotiations with Palestinians, drawing immediate condemnation from Palestinians.
The verdict was issued on Monday after a majority vote by an expanded panel of seven judges. Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and Justices Neal Hendel, Isaac Amit and Noam Sohlberg were in favor, while justices Uzi Vogelman, Daphne Barak-Erez and George Karra, who framed different minority opinions, opposed the decision.
The Israeli justices alleged in their decision that withholding Palestinians’ bodies falls within the purview of the Israeli regime’s security, and claimed that the practice was not illegal under international law governing armed conflict.
The measure was adopted in response to a petition by the families of six Palestinians, whose bodies are currently in the Israeli regime’s possession.
It reverses a 2017 High Court ruling on the matter, which determined that holding on to bodies was illegal, in a “violation of human rights as well as the rights of the deceased and his family.”
It noted at the time that Israeli authorities could hold on to the bodies of Palestinians who had purportedly committed “particularly egregious” acts of “terror,” and that the decision should be anchored in a specific and explicit law.
Israeli military forces regularly take custody of Palestinians’ bodies. Sometimes the bodies are later returned to their families for burial. At other times, they are withheld to prevent celebratory funerals in Palestinian towns, or with a view to using them in negotiations to retrieve the bodies of Israeli soldiers held by resistance groups.
According to Palestinian campaigners pushing for the release of the remains of those killed by Israeli forces, the Tel Aviv regime currently holds over 300 Palestinians' bodies.
‘An extension of Israel’s violations’
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has censured the Israeli High Court’s decision, and described it as an extension of the Israeli regime’s violations and its continued crimes and punitive measures against Palestinian people.
“Once again, the so-called judicial system in the occupying power, including the Israeli High Court, proved that it is an integral part of the occupation system, and has nothing to do with the principles and foundations of justice, and issues its decisions based on what the colonial system itself determines and decides for it,” the ministry said in a statement released on Tuesday.
The Palestinian foreign ministry emphasized that it is exerting efforts at all international levels in order to recover the bodies of Palestinian martyrs, and will continue to expose the crime of withholding the remains of deceased Palestinians.
It termed the Israeli regime’s move to hold slain Palestinians’ remains as a policy of extortion and bargaining aimed at achieving colonial purposes.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories.
The verdict was issued on Monday after a majority vote by an expanded panel of seven judges. Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and Justices Neal Hendel, Isaac Amit and Noam Sohlberg were in favor, while justices Uzi Vogelman, Daphne Barak-Erez and George Karra, who framed different minority opinions, opposed the decision.
The Israeli justices alleged in their decision that withholding Palestinians’ bodies falls within the purview of the Israeli regime’s security, and claimed that the practice was not illegal under international law governing armed conflict.
The measure was adopted in response to a petition by the families of six Palestinians, whose bodies are currently in the Israeli regime’s possession.
It reverses a 2017 High Court ruling on the matter, which determined that holding on to bodies was illegal, in a “violation of human rights as well as the rights of the deceased and his family.”
It noted at the time that Israeli authorities could hold on to the bodies of Palestinians who had purportedly committed “particularly egregious” acts of “terror,” and that the decision should be anchored in a specific and explicit law.
Israeli military forces regularly take custody of Palestinians’ bodies. Sometimes the bodies are later returned to their families for burial. At other times, they are withheld to prevent celebratory funerals in Palestinian towns, or with a view to using them in negotiations to retrieve the bodies of Israeli soldiers held by resistance groups.
According to Palestinian campaigners pushing for the release of the remains of those killed by Israeli forces, the Tel Aviv regime currently holds over 300 Palestinians' bodies.
‘An extension of Israel’s violations’
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has censured the Israeli High Court’s decision, and described it as an extension of the Israeli regime’s violations and its continued crimes and punitive measures against Palestinian people.
“Once again, the so-called judicial system in the occupying power, including the Israeli High Court, proved that it is an integral part of the occupation system, and has nothing to do with the principles and foundations of justice, and issues its decisions based on what the colonial system itself determines and decides for it,” the ministry said in a statement released on Tuesday.
The Palestinian foreign ministry emphasized that it is exerting efforts at all international levels in order to recover the bodies of Palestinian martyrs, and will continue to expose the crime of withholding the remains of deceased Palestinians.
It termed the Israeli regime’s move to hold slain Palestinians’ remains as a policy of extortion and bargaining aimed at achieving colonial purposes.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories.
8 sept 2019
Avera Mengistu
Activists holding demonstration in Tel Aviv to demand release of Avera Mengistu, who has been held in Gaza since 2014; 'The pain is the same pain that has been with us for five years,' says his brother
Activists will hold a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Sunday to mark the 5th anniversary of Avera Mengistu's captivity in Gaza.
Mengistu, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent, left his home in Ashkelon on September 7, 2014. He then walked to Zikim beach on the Gaza border, and crossed the security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
After Mengistu crossed the border, he was detained and interrogated by Hamas and has been missing since then and his fate is unknown. Hamas is also holding the bodies of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, IDF soldiers who fell in Gaza during the 2014 war, as well as fellow Israeli national Hisham al-Sayed.
Mengistu's brother Ilan told Ynet that family is suffering greatly due to his abduction.
"Even today, years after the incident, we do not have any new information on Avera," said Ilan. "This frustrates us more with every passing day."
"Every passing year I tell myself, that maybe this year it will happen, maybe Avera will return this year. I still hope so," he said.
"The pain is the same pain that has been with us for five years. We know that there is no choice, we must save him, bring him back from there.
Unfortunately, there are no constant efforts, there is no new information. Mother prays daily to see him again."
The rally to mark the fifth anniversary of Mengistu's captivity will take place on Sunday evening at 18:30 at Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
The rally was planned under the slogan "Youths Unite for Avera", and will be attended by Mengistu's family, youth movement students, and various organizations from all across Israeli society.
At the start of the evening, the youth will hear the tales of Avera from his family - about his special and lovely nature of a young man who experienced a deep crisis following the death of a beloved brother, his mental deterioration that led to repeated hospitalizations that didn't help and his entrance into Gaza while unaware of his actions, while in front of IDF security cameras.
The protest will also hear about the determination of an Ashkelon family without means as they fought for Avera's freedom and to keep his captivity alive in the minds of the public.
Activists holding demonstration in Tel Aviv to demand release of Avera Mengistu, who has been held in Gaza since 2014; 'The pain is the same pain that has been with us for five years,' says his brother
Activists will hold a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Sunday to mark the 5th anniversary of Avera Mengistu's captivity in Gaza.
Mengistu, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent, left his home in Ashkelon on September 7, 2014. He then walked to Zikim beach on the Gaza border, and crossed the security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
After Mengistu crossed the border, he was detained and interrogated by Hamas and has been missing since then and his fate is unknown. Hamas is also holding the bodies of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, IDF soldiers who fell in Gaza during the 2014 war, as well as fellow Israeli national Hisham al-Sayed.
Mengistu's brother Ilan told Ynet that family is suffering greatly due to his abduction.
"Even today, years after the incident, we do not have any new information on Avera," said Ilan. "This frustrates us more with every passing day."
"Every passing year I tell myself, that maybe this year it will happen, maybe Avera will return this year. I still hope so," he said.
"The pain is the same pain that has been with us for five years. We know that there is no choice, we must save him, bring him back from there.
Unfortunately, there are no constant efforts, there is no new information. Mother prays daily to see him again."
The rally to mark the fifth anniversary of Mengistu's captivity will take place on Sunday evening at 18:30 at Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
The rally was planned under the slogan "Youths Unite for Avera", and will be attended by Mengistu's family, youth movement students, and various organizations from all across Israeli society.
At the start of the evening, the youth will hear the tales of Avera from his family - about his special and lovely nature of a young man who experienced a deep crisis following the death of a beloved brother, his mental deterioration that led to repeated hospitalizations that didn't help and his entrance into Gaza while unaware of his actions, while in front of IDF security cameras.
The protest will also hear about the determination of an Ashkelon family without means as they fought for Avera's freedom and to keep his captivity alive in the minds of the public.
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