Israel declares the entire village of Nabi Saleh, home to Tamimi family, a closed military zone

Israeli army declares Nabi Saleh, home to Tamimi family, closed military zone
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 Jan — The Israeli army declared the central occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh — home to imprisoned teenage activist Ahed al-Tamimi — a closed military zone on Saturday, closing off all entrances and exits. Official Palestinian Authority (PA)-owned Wafa news agency reported that that Israeli forces set up barriers on the main road that leads to Nabi Saleh and prevented Palestinians, including journalists, from entering the village.  Wafa quoted Bilal al-Tamimi, the father of 16-year-old Ahed who was detained by Israeli forces last month over a video of her slapping and kicking an Israeli soldier, as saying that soldiers are preventing non-residents from entering the village. However, Wafa reported that some Palestinians were able to enter by taking alternative yet longer routes to participate in a protest in the village. Dozens of Palestinians suffered from tear severe tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces suppressed the protest, which was held in support of Ahed and in rejection of US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. While Wafa said that the closure was enforced to prevent people from accessing the protest, some have speculated that the closure was taken as a punitive measure against the residents of Nabi Saleh, specifically the Tamimi family.  Since Ahed’s arrest, her cousin Nour was arrested — she was recently released — her mother Nariman and her aunt were detained, and recently one of her cousins was detained in an overnight raid.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=779751

Mohammed Tamimi, 19, seized by occupation forces as global solidarity escalates (Video)
IMEMC/Agencies 12 Jan — The ongoing Israeli harassment and targeted oppression of the Tamimi family, organizers in the anti-colonial land defense and popular resistance in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, continued in the pre-dawn hours of 11 January. While 16-year-old activist Ahed Tamimi and her mother Nariman remain in Israeli prison, facing a series of charges before an Israeli military court, Israeli occupation forces raided the family home of Manal and Bilal Tamimi, seizing their 19-year-old son Mohammed. Manal, Mohammed’s mother, was released one week ago after nearly a week in Israeli prison.
Mohammed smiled and raised his fingers in the “victory” sign as he was taken from his family home surrounded by occupation soldiers.  Manal later reported on Facebook that her son is currently being held in the infamous Petah Tikva interrogation center. He is the latest member of the Tamimi family to be targeted in an ongoing series of raids and and arrests in the village of Nabi Saleh and the neighboring village of Deir Nizam, both near Ramallah. Nabi Saleh, a village of 600, has become a center of popular organizing and indigenous land defense after the illegal settlement of Halamish has stolen the village’s agricultural land as well as its spring …
As the repression targeting the Tamimi family has continued and intensified, Palestinian and international support for Ahed Tamimi and her family has only grown. Ahed, who has traveled to South Africa, Europe, Lebanon and elsewhere to speak about the Palestinian struggle, is an internationally known leader in the indigenous land defense movement. She has been involved in the movement in Nabi Saleh since she was only 11 years old …
On the streets of Berlin, Jewish Antifa Berlin shared images of large stickers and posters highlighting Ahed Tamimi’s case and those of the Tamimi women posted on signboards and advertising spaces around the German capital city.  Women in Berlin are also organizing a bloc for the women’s march on 21 January that will highlight Ahed’s case.
http://imemc.org/article/mohammed-tamimi-19-seized-by-occupation-fo...

Palestinian protesters demand Ahed Tamimi’s release
NABI SALEH, occupied West Bank (Al Jazeera) 13 Jan by Jaclynn Ashly — Israeli forces have fired tear gas as hundreds of Palestinians protested against the detention of a prominent teenage activist and her mother. Ahed Tamimi, 16, was detained on December 19 in an overnight raid at her home in the village of Nabi Saleh after a video showing her hitting and slapping Israeli soldiers went viral. Shortly before, her 15-year-old cousin Mohammad was shot point-blank in the face with a rubber-coated steel bullet, which left him in a medically induced coma for 72 hours. Ahed was indicted on 12 charges earlier this month and could face up to 10 years in prison. Her mother, Nariman, and her 20-year-old cousin Nour were also detained shortly afterwards. Nour has since been released on bail.
On Saturday, Palestinians from various villages in the occupied West Bank gathered in Nabi Saleh to demand the release of Ahed and her mother, as well as protest against US President Donald Trump’s move last month to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. However, Israeli forces stationed themselves at the entrance of Nabi Saleh an hour before the protest, preventing many foreign activists and journalists from entering the village while also turning away some Palestinians. The demonstrators initially marched towards a hill adjacent to the illegal Halamish settlement, the construction of which has confiscated hundreds of hectares of Nabi Saleh’s land. The protesters then moved on towards an Israeli checkpoint and military tower erected at the entrance of the village. Israeli forces fired tear gas, causing gas inhalation to dozens of protesters. At least seven demonstrators were injured by rubber bullets, residents told Al Jazeera.
‘Nothing will stop us from resisting’ — Nabi Saleh has long held Friday protests against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank every Friday for years. Bassem Tamimi, Ahed’s father who has spent four years in an Israeli prison, said the message of Saturday’s demonstration was clear: “Palestinians will not keep silent while living under occupation”. Ahed and Nariman are being held at Israel’s HaSharon prison in Israel. Owing to his previous imprisonment, Bassem is unable to obtain an Israeli permit to visit his daughter and wife in jail….
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/palestinian-protesters-demand...

Israeli soldiers deface poster hung in memoriam of slain Palestinian teen
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Jan — Just over a week after Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Musaab al-Tamimi during clashes in his hometown of Deir Nitham, in the central occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers allegedly defaced posters of the boy hanging in the town. Israeli news website Ynet said in a report on Thursday that posters commemorating al-Tamimi’s martyrdom were defaced with permanent marker. A picture posted by Ynet shows slogans written in Hebrew, stars of David, and a middle finger drawn on the teen’s face. The Hebrew slogans translate to “son of a whore,” “whore,” and “dead.” Hanging posters in memory of martyrs killed by Israeli forces is customary throughout the occupied Palestinian territory. Al-Tamimi was killed on January 4th, and was the first Palestinian to die at the hands of Israel in 2018.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=779746

Violence / Detentions — West Bank / Gaza

Updated: Army kills a student near Qalqilia
IMEMC/Agencies 16 Jan — Palestinian medical sources said that Ahmad Abdul-Jaber Salim, 28, from Jayyous town, was shot with a live round in the head [on Monday], and died from his serious wounds at Darwish Nazzal hospital, in Qalqilia, in northern West Bank. Eyewitnesses said Israeli soldiers fired many live rounds at Palestinian protesters, wounding Ahmad in the head, and then fired many gas bombs at Palestinian ambulances and medics. It is worth mentioning that Ahmad is a former political prisoner, who was held by Israel for three years before he was released in 2016, and is a student of the Al-Quds Open University in Qalqilia. He was the secretary of the “Students Unity Block,” of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). Following his death, the soldiers completely closed the main road, and installed many roadblocks in the area. Many youngsters also hurled stones at Israeli army vehicles and settlers’ cars, while hundreds of Palestinians marched to the hospital protesting his death.
http://imemc.org/article/youth-dies-of-wounds-sustained-during-qalq...

Thousands march in funerals of slain Palestinian teenagers
[with photos] BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Jan — Thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank marched on Friday in the funerals of the two Palestinian teenagers who were killed by Israeli forces dur...  In the northern West Bank village of ‘Iraq Burin, in the Nablus district, crowds set off from the village mosque following prayers towards the village’s cemetery where 16-year-old Ali Kino was laid to rest.  Mourners chanted Palestinian national slogans in support of Kino, promising revenge against the Israeli occupation. Palestinian flags and flags of the Fatah movement were waved during the procession.
Meanwhile, the funeral of Amir Abed al-Hamid Abu Musaed, 16, set off in the central Gaza Strip following Friday prayers. Mourners set off from the al-Mughazi refugee camp’s mosque towards Abu Musaed’s family home, then to the camp’s cemetery where he was buried.  Abu Musaed was killed by Israeli forces at the eastern borders of al-Bureij refugee camp on Thursday. The two teenagers were the third Palestinians, after 16-year-old Musaab al-Tamimi, to be killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=779747

Army invades many apartments in Ramallah
IMEMC 16 Jan — Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday at dawn, many Palestinian apartments, including one inhabited by a journalist, and conducted violent searches, causing serious property damage. The Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) said the soldiers invaded the apartment of one of its reporters, identified as Zahran Hammad, after detonating the front door. It added that the soldiers violently searched the property, causing Hammad’s children to suffer anxiety attacks, after the army detonated the main door, and stormed into the apartment, including their rooms. The soldiers also invaded and ransacked many neighboring apartments, causing damage.
In related news, dozens of soldiers invaded Hebron city, in southern West Bank, before breaking into the home of a former political prisoner, identified as Jamal Karama, and summoning him for interrogation in Etzion military base, north of Hebron. The soldiers also invaded the al-‘Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, and searched the home of Mohammad Issa Abu Afifa, whose son was abducted two days ago.
http://imemc.org/article/army-invades-many-apartments-in-ramallah/

Video: Extremist Israeli colonists cut [down] more than 110 Palestinian olive trees in Nablus
IMEMC 13 Jan —  A group of extremist Israeli colonists, illegally living on stolen Palestinian lands in Huwwara and Burin villages, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, have cut down Saturday more than 110 olive trees owned by several Palestinians, while Israeli soldiers watched without trying to stop them. The colonists came from the illegal Yitzhar outpost … They cut down and destroyed more than 110 Palestinian olive trees, owned by several Palestinians, before the locals intercepted their attack and managed to force them out. A video filmed by a local Palestinian shows the colonists cutting the trees, while Israeli soldiers stood on top of a small hill, watching them without even trying to stop them. There have been numerous previous incidents where the soldiers only intervened to attack the Palestinians, and fire at them, when they rushed to rescue their lands, their main and in most cases, their only source of livelihood, and clashed with the invading illegal colonists.
http://imemc.org/article/video-extremist-israeli-colonists-cut-more...

Israeli settlers attack Nablus village, clashes erupt
NABLUS (WAFA) 14 Jan – Israeli settlers attacked the village of Urif, to the south of Nablus, on Sunday, provoking clashes with local villagers, according to local sources. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activities in the area, said extremist Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Yitzhar raided the village, provoking clashes with local Palestinians. Israeli settlers have intensified their attacks on Palestinians and their properties following the drive-by shooting last week that killed an Israeli settler from Khavat Gilad settlement outpost, to the west of Nablus.
http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=tuLMGsa96038539971atuLMGs

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