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After an escalation of suicide bombings in its cities, and using the pretext of 'self-defence', Israel launched Operation Protective Wall on 29 March 2002. What started with a raid on Arafat's Ramallah HQ has turned into the most intense and bloody assault on the Palestinian population of the West Bank since the state of Israel was declared in 1948. The world, by remaining silent, gave Israeli prime-minister Ariel Sharon a green light to inflict as much terror and destruction as deemed fit . And there seemed to be no limit to his capacity for terror. Tanks, bulldozers and APC's rolled into every West Bank city, while missile-firing helicopters lurked overhead. Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested; untold numbers, well into the hundreds, have been murdered or maimed, and cities have been reduced to piles of rubble. Now, the battered and traumatised survivors of this massacre wait for the invasion to stop and for the world to help them.
Urgent Call to Action:Come to Palestine | Electronic action against the occupation | Appeal fron 'internationals' inside PA's compound
Images: The War on Palestine | Recent photos from Ramallah
Video: Tanks & activists in Beit Jala | "Internationals" demo in Bethlehem
Maps of the Occupies Territories.
Article "IMC-Palestine: Be the Media".
Report from inside the masacre in Jenin
Reports from a British international inside PA's compound: 26/04 | 26/04</ a>
Life under curfew by IMC-Palestine. Contact IMC-Palestine on 011-972-2-277-7558
IMC-Italy dossier on Palestine (En)
List of destruction and vandalism of Palestinian installations and infrastructure by the IOF.
Regularly updated compilation of Palestine solidarity protests worldwide.
COVERAGE, REPORTS AND TIMELINES OF EVENTS:
08/06/02 - First hand account from an Undercurrents video activist from UK.
- Sum up of events of the past 24 hours in Jenin and Ramallah.
07/06/02 - Israel neglects wounded and sick Palestinian detainees. Medical care in various Israeli detention and interrogation centers continues to be inadequate. Report by Lawsociety.
- Sum up ov events of the past 24 hours in Palestine.
06/06/02 - Sum up of events of the past 24 hours in Ramallah.
05/06/02 - Sum up of events of the past 24 hours in Occupied Territories.
- Boycott Israeli goods Campaign update.
- Article on Israel's 35 years War.
- Israel awards medals of honour to twelve Israeli soldiers who participated in the massacre in Jenin and the destruction in the old city of Nablus, report.
04/06/02 - Sum up of events of the past 24 hours in the West Bank.
- 18 Israelis killed in a suicide bomb attack in Megiddo.
- Urgent appeal to stop the implementation of Israel separation plan.
- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson reported that around 300 children have been killed so far by Israeli soldiers since the Intifada started in September 2000.
03/06/02 - Environmental and public health crisis emerging in the western Ramallah villages.
- The Israeli occupation forces have re-invaded Nablus and Talkarem, eyewitness said that "IOF" arrested more than 400 palestinian.
- An Israeli army officer admitted that the recently opened detention camps throughout Palestine were "built along the same fashion as concentration camps".
02/06/02 - Israeli occupation forces have re-invaded Bethlehem city and Deheishah reffugee camp and imposed a curfew. The IOF have also raided the United Nations clinic in Balata. Reports that the clinic is being vandalized.
- Eight international peace activists have been detained and threatened with deportation.
- The Palestine Media Center (PMC) in Ramallah reports about the daily problems students and staff of the Birzeit University face at the "Surda" roadblock.
- Report of Israeli soldiers beating up and tattoing the swastika and the Star of David symbols to an arrested Palestinian boy.
01/06/02 - Israeli military invasions and attacks continued throughout the Palestinian occupied territories today. Large numbers of people were arrested in Nablus, Balata refugee camp, Deheishe refugee camp, Tamoun town and Tulkarem. Full report
31/05/02 - Call for a demonstration in front of Ansar (Ketsi'ot) Detention Camp.
30/05/02 - Border police and Green patrol destroy 52 homes in the Negev.
29/05/02 - Israel strengthens its apartheid policies with further restrictions on Palestinian movement.
- Report on the life and health conditions during the Israeli invasion of Bethlehem.
28/05/02 - The Israeli army re-entered Jenin refugee camp at 3.00 this morning. Both Apache helicopters and tanks have been used in the operation where three separate areas of the camp have been shelled. Resistance to this latest invasion resulted in an unknown number of arrests.
- Report on the daily life, health and environmental conditions of people living under curfew during the latest Israeli invasion of Jenin.
27/05/02 - Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers raced under a full moon into Bethlehem early today, report.
26/05/02 - Violations of Human Rights in Palestine, weekly report
- Israeli army rounds-up 85 people during a night raid in Beit Ummar.
25/05/02 - Israeli occupation forces have moved back into Bethlehem area imposing a curfew, read more.
23/05/02 - Malnutrition "rapidly increasing" among Palestinians, says a World Food Body report. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has announced plans to help feed 500,000 people living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are living in poverty and face severe food shortages.
22/05/02 - A total of 71 people have been jailed in Israel for their refusal to serve with the IDF in the occupied territories. Reports 1 | 2
Reports of 3 killed and 20 injured in another suicide bomber attack.
21/05/02 - Israel has bisected the West Bank into eight huge detention centers cut off from each other and virtually isolated from the rest of the outside world. Report
20/05/02 - A Palestinian suicide bomber struck in the Israeli resort town of Netanya, killing three Israelis in a market. More than 50 others were wounded, 10 of them seriously. Report
18/05/02 - Over 50.000 people demonstrated in London in solidarity with Palestine and in demand for and immediate end of Israel attacks in the occupied territories. Report and photos. Photos 1 | 2 .
Jewish and Palestinians protest together in London, photo and video.
17/05/02 - Israeli troops entered the Palestinian city of Jenin and its battle-scarred refugee camp again before dawn Friday in a search for militants who eluded capture during heavy fighting last month. Exchanges of fire erupted shortly after Israeli forces reached the city and the adjacent refugee camp around 3:30 a.m. In the refugee camp, soldiers surrounded the home of Jamal Abu Alhija, the local leader of the militant Islamic group Hamas. Soldiers ordered family members to come out but Alhija was not among them.
16/05/02 - Life and Health report during the Israeli invasion of the West Bank: The City of Nablus.
15/05/02 - 4 Internationals that broke the siege of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem are still held illegally in Israel. Read a statement and the latest news.
10/05/02 - Israeli Occupation Forces withdraw from Bethlehem city after 38 days of human suffering, house demolitions, human rights violations and a total curfew.
Weekly update May 3- 9:
Israel is allowed to deny a UN investigation of the Jenin refugee camp, in exchange, seemingly, for ending the siege of Arafat's Ramallah compound. International talks over the Nativity Church, Bethlehem begin to grow farcical as plans for ending the siege are repeatedly drawn up, then torn up.
Twelve internationals are being deported by Israel for trying to take food to the starving Palestinians inside the Nativity Church on May 3. Since their arrest, they have been refusing food and water to protest the ongoing and escalating abuses of human rights by Israel, report.
May 4: as many as 650 Palestinians were killed in Jenin and Nablus, according to Riadh Al Zaanoon, the Palestinian Minister of Health, report.
Contact numbers for the Church of Nativity: 011-972-65-622-017 - 011-972-67-403-272 - 011-972-67-346-410
- Internationals held illegally
- Bush and Sharon agree to neutralize Arafat.
Weekly update April 25 - May 2:
Four weeks on, the Nativity church in Bethlehem and Arafat's compound in Ramallah both remain under siege. Media focus is on Palestinian 'militiamen' inside the church, although very few are armed. First hand report
25 April: In Jenin, refugees turned back a truck full of aid from the US; one man pointed to an Apache helicopter and said: "this is the biggest gift we got from America."
29 April: Israeli forces enter Hebron, killing nine Palestinians and injuring 25. By May 1, 300 Palestinians in Hebron have been detained, including Dr. Younis, of the Red Crescent in Hebron.
Weekly update April 19 - 25:
As Palestine moves off the nation's front pages, Israel continues to tell outright lies about its brutal operation in the West Bank, and to renege on agreements to a UN inspection of the damage. Overwhelming evidence of a massacre in Jenin (very disturbing and bloody pics) - and devastation elsewhere - is still pouring out of the region; yet global leaders are locked into a dithering, intellectual debate over the extent of the attacks. Military attacks and severe curfews continue in Hebron and in Gaza, while the Nativity Church and Arafat's Ramalllah compound remain under siege. Scores of individuals in these buildings are trapped with no food, water or medical aid. Meanwile Gaza braces for Sharon to send in tanks in next phase of war. Two IMC Palestine workers were arrested on 22 April; no updates as to their current situation.
- Recent Checkpoints photos.
- Israel withdraws agreement to let UN team to visit Jenin.
- Tanzim militia assassinated, 3 collaborators killed, report.
- Signs of normal life emerge in Jenin but devastation becomes more apparent.
- Conditions in Negev prison worsen with many reports of human rights abuses.
- Red Cross and Amnesty say Jenin attack violated Geneva accords.
- Devastating vandalism by Israeli soldiers in HDIP and Palestine Monitor.
- Greek rescue team denied entry to Jenin.
- Left-wing Knesset members defy roadblocks to view Jenin damage.
- Jewish minister in South Africa calls for boycott on Israel.
Weekly update April 11 - 18:
As the full horrors or Israel's bloody war emerge, peace talks with Colin Powell go nowhere and Sharon refuses to set a timeline for withdrawal from the West Bank. Evidence of a horrific massacre emerges from Jenin and the stand-off at the Nativity Church, Bethlehem continues, with the Israeli army now hassling reporters. Attempts by international activists to deliver food and aid to besieged Palestinians are curtailed by the Israeli army, brutally in some cases. Eyewitness report. Meanwhile worldwide condemnation grows, but still no action from global leaders.
- Fresh evidence of Jenin atrocities 18/02.
- Updates from Palestinian news agency WAFA on 18/04 here
- Hebron update April 12 - 18
- Human rights report from Jenin.
- Shock at lack of rescue efforts in Jenin, report.
- Thousands of Palestinians blinfolded, handcuffed and tortured. Report.
April 16, 2002:
Further attacks have occurred in refugee camps near Nablus. Three new incursions have taken place into Palestinian towns. People have been re-entering Jenin to find nothing left. An international group trying to deliver food and aid to Nablus has been bloodily attacked. Psychological warfare has continued outside the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem.
Damage assessment of Israel's military attacks on the West Bank.
[All reported times in GMT]
18.15: Eyewitness update: IDF attacking the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem this evening.
16.00: BBC reports that mainstream journalists entering Jenin today say the devastation is much worse than anticipated, and that it is clear much of the destruction was deliberate.
14.45: Report on Israeli pilot refusing to shoot.
14.20: IMC Palestine has reported that the group of international volunteers attempting to take aid to the Askar camp (see below) has been intercepted and attacked by IDF soldiers. They have been punched kicked and beaten with rifle butts.
14.15: IMC Palestine reports that a group of 20 international volunteers and 10 Palestinians have attempted to reach the Askar refugee camp to help deliver humanitarian supplies and support medical relief teams there. They are in the Nablus area and are currently in a building coming under heavy fire from the IDF. One of the group reported that they are extremely nervous.
13:00: Update from the situation in Jenin where mainstream journalists are being driven around in Israeli army APC's.
12:30: The Bethlehem Star hotel, from where most of the footage of Manger Square and the surrounding area has been filmed, has been taken over by the IDF. Inside are Palestinian civilians and international press. They are under strict orders not to go to the top floor, and are therefore being prevented from witnessing any activity in and around Manger Square.
11:00: IMC Palestine has reported that for the fifth day in a row, an ambulance containing humanitarian aid (food, water and medicines) has been prevented from entering the Presidential Compound. The situation inside is deteriorating.
10:00: The Palestinian Chronicle has reported that a Israeli military official confirmed that Israel has reopened the notorious desert detention camp, Ketziot, where thousands of Palestinians were held in tents during the 1987-93 uprising against Israeli occupation.
10:00: IDF forces have begun new incursions into three towns in the West Bank
08:00: Israeli forces have reoccupied the West Bank City of Tulkarm.
07:18: The Palestinian Emergency Committee has conducted a report on the destruction of Palestinian Public Institutions.
03:57: The Palestine Red Crescent Society and the Red cross have been allowed into Jenin under Military escort.
02:54: Eyewitness Report from within Jenin.
02:31: Update from the sealed off refugee camps in Nablus.
April 15, 2002:
Geneva: The UK and Germany voted against a resolution which accused Israel of mass killings of Palestinians.
Palestine: Israeli soldiers have been hunting for booby traps amid decaying Palestinian bodies.
IMC-Palestine: Be the Media article on today's Guardian.
[All reported times in GMT]
21:45: Marwan Barghouthi, a West Bank leader of Arafat's Fatah organisation, has been arrested by Israeli forces in Ramallah.
21:15: Imc-Palestine is calling volunteers to help in the office or as eye witness. Call on 02-2777558 or 052-814992
20:30: An open letter to Ariel Sharon: "You Won't Break Them"
19:30: Israel starts work on defences to isolate Jerusalem.
18:43: Israel's Supreme Court Orders that Humanitarian Agencies be Allowed to Locate bodies.
18:30: Audio interview from Gaza city about life under occupation, and the massacres in the West Bank (20:27 long)
17:00 Nativity church: The IDF is still holding up the Palestinians inside the Church; Today,IDF shoot a Palestinian inside the church in the leg, and occupied a Palestinian's building in Doha street, western Bethlehem, killed one womman in that building.
14:40: Reports that Israeli occupation soldiers opened fire on civilians and children in Dura, 12 kilometers south of Hebron, injuring a child and four other civilians.
14:28: Desmond Tutu says the US has been soft on Israel
12:40: IMC jerusalem reports that Israeli soldiers have been hunting for booby traps amid decaying Palestinian bodies in the rubble of Jenin refugee camp, scene of the fiercest fighting in Israel's West Bank offensive.
12:16: Close aid to Arafat, Palestinian Leader, Barghouti Arrested.
11:36: Britain and Germany have voted against a resolution which accuses Israel of mass killings of Palestinians. The resolution was passed by 40 votes to five.
10:16: 11 Peaceful demonstrators arrested outside the Ramle courthouse yeastuday, are released today.Read more
10:00: The Palestine Chronicle has reported two Palestinians killed in Bethlehem.
8:00: The Israeli army claimed it has killed two Palestinian fighters and prevented a Palestinian infiltration near Kfar Darom, in the Southern Gaza Strip.
7:49: Jenin mayor says Israeli massacres at camp defies linguistic description.
6:00: Palestinian officials have rejected an Israeli deal for the surrender of Palestinians held in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. Israel¹s Œdeal¹ offered Palestinians at the church trial in an Israeli military court or permanent exile.
April 14, 2002:
Arafat-Powell talks concluded with no indication of an end to the Israeli occupation.
- Read full Arafat's anti-terrorism statement here.
- Read three articles published in today's Independent newspaper: Jenin: The camp that became a slaughterhouse
- Israeli bulldozers destroy Jenin refugee camp. Photo and report
[All reported times in GMT]
22:00 Solidarity with arrested Arab Israelis.
21.30 No breakthrough in negotiations over Nativity Church.
21.00 Sharon says an international peace conference to be convened soon - without Arafat.
20:30 Iraq urges Iran to give oil revenue to Palestinians.
18:40 Confessions of an Israeli reservist: "The most terrible thing is to go into houses and see that they are just regular families. The children with their wide frightened eyes, I find very difficult."
18:30 Reporters Sans Frontieres blasts Israel for curbing press freedom.
18:20 The Palestine Center For Human Rights reports that the Israeli authorities reopened the notorious Ketziot desert prison camp popularly known as ³Ansar 3.² During the 1980s and 1990s, thousands of Palestinian prisoners were held in the facility.
18:00 Statements from eyewitnesses, collected by LAW, confirm that despite Friday's Israeli High Court's interim order, Israeli forces have continued moving bodies outside Jenin refugee camp.
17:45 A delegation from the Swedish ³Palestinian Solidarity Group² has been refused entry into Israel. Two delegates are doctors attempting to come to the West bank to carry out an assessment of the current medical situation a project funded by the Swedish government.
17:30 Call for fund-raising for the people still trapped inside Jenin.
17:00 Report of summary executions in Jenin by Mezan Center for Human Rights.
16:45 The Israeli army has acknowledged it had killed hundreds of Palestinians earlier in the week in the Jenin refugee camp. "There were apparently hundreds of dead," the army's chief spokesman, Brigadier-General Ron Kitrey, told Army Radio. Kitrey's estimate sharply revised upwards the army's previous figure of some 100 Palestinian fighters killed in Jenin.
16:30 Imc-Italy reports that IDF is surrounding Jenin and other areas with barbed wire to "contain suicide bombers".
16:05 Article in The Independent(uk)newspaper : The camp that became a slaughterhouse "The wounded left to die slowly, in horrible agony..."
15:15 Israeli Supreme Court ruling: Israeli army must hand over the bodies of those Palestinian soldiers killed in Jenin refugee camp.
14:25 Cultural center in Ramallah seriously damaged by Israeli army operations.
14:20 Powell describes his talks with Arafat: 'useful and constructive'.
14:00 Report of top Hamas activist killed; Jerusalem bombing: two of the dead were Chinese workers.
13:40 Report from the Israeli Peace Movement of the Jenin Checkpoint Demonstration yesterday
13:20 Israeli bulldozers destroy Jenin refugee camp. Photo and report
12:00 The talks between the US Secretary of State Colin Powell and the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have begun today at 10:00 at Arafat's besieged headquarters in Ramallah.
April 13, 2002:
Huge Palestine solidarity march in London with 80000 protesters +++ Arafat issues a statement condemning all terrorist activities +++ 3000 protesters, both Palestinian and Israeli march towards Jenin
[All reported times in GMT]
00:30 All homes and shelters of al-Somran and Jorid a-Dhahib quarters of Jenin refugee camp are being systematically demolished by Israeli bulldozers.
23:55 Prosecutor files charges against five Palestinian community leaders and political activists, charging them with supporting a terrorist organization and incitement.
23:45 Lebanon's prime minister on border violence and how to avoid a wider war.
23:30 Mubarak rejects calls to launch war against Israel in response to attacks against Palestin.
21:45 Reportof a Palestinian being shot dead in a hostel adjoining the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem.
21:30 Acountfrom Jenin refugee camp "our first glimpse of what is left of the packed warren of narrow lanes. These are scenes of devastation that will haunt the mission of Colin Powell"
18:06: Statement issued by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in which he condemned the suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed six people on Friday.
17:39: 3,000 Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, set out on a march towards Jenin, in the West Bank, protesting the IDF operations in the territories.
16:03: Tales of abuse from Burqin, West Bank.
15:39: Israel buries the bodies, but cannot hide the evidence.
14:46: Yesterday (April, 12), a joint Arab and Jewish Israeli demonstration was held across from the American Embassy in Tel-Aviv (situated on the sea-shore) set for the occasion of Secretary of State Powell's visit.
12:27: The Israeli High Court ordered the army not to remove the bodies of Palestinians killed in fighting in the Jenin refugee camp until a hearing is held on the matter. The decision came in response to a petition presented by attorney Jamil Dakaur from the Arab "Adala" organization.
12:17: World finally gets glimpse of Jenin refugee camp devastation.
04:58: Rescue workers pulled the bodies of eight family members (including a pregnant woman, three young boys and an 85-year-old man) from the rubble of a home demolished by Israeli bulldozers in the West Bank town of Nablus.
02:01: Personal Testimony by Asaf Oron, a Sergeant Major in the Giv'ati Brigade and one of the original 53 Israeli soldiers who signed the "Fighters' Letter" declaring that from now on they will refuse to serve in the Occupied territories.
April 12, 2002:
Colin Powell was unable to obtain any time for withdrawal from Ariel Sharon as suicide bomber kills herself and six others. Stories of abuses are continuing to emerge as IDF operations continue in the cities of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and in the villages of Dura and Dahariya south of Hebron. Hundreds of children have also been detained and fear grows for their safety Read more.Meanwhile 500 Pastinians and Jews demonstrated yesterday in Haifa against the Israeli genocidal policy Photo and report. Recent photos from Ramallah.
[All reported times in GMT]
23.50 The Israeli Defense Forces website http://www.idf.il publishes its version of "news" which IMC Palestinien find very easy to disprove using images, video and personal testimony.
23.30 The Israeli army acknowledged on Friday it had killed hundreds of Palestinians earlier in the week in the Jenin refugee camp. "There were apparently hundreds of dead," the army's chief spokesman told Army Radio.
22.00 A call for transport unions to boycott comercial flights and shipping in/out of Isreal.
21.45 Yesterday some 500 activists Palestinians and Jews demonstrated(pic) in Haifa against the Israeli genocidal policy. They wore big yellow Stars of David and joined the international campaign initiated in Switzerland.
21.30 A press release from Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights denounces the international community for its silence and inaction in the face of war crimes. "Every hour such silence and inaction continues more innocent lives are destroyed."
17:45: A forensic expert from the UK is due to fly outto the Middle East to examine bodies of Palestinians killed in recent fighting.
17:30: The United Nations human rights commission Friday voted overwhelmingly to pass a resolution calling for the swift foundation of an independent Palestinian state.
17:00: A call to help Indymedia Palestine to monitor hate postings
16:30: Refugees flee Jenin camp with reports of Israeli abuses. Suzanne Goldenberg reports
15:00: At least six people have been killed and 62 injured as a sucide bomber blew herself up near a market place according to the Associated press.
12:42: Palestine Monitoring Group confirm the death of a 47 year-old man shot dead by the IDF.
10:00: An urgent appeal has been put out from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society
8:25: The number of imprisoned Israeli army objectors has risen to thirty-eight, the highest number of declared objectors held simultaenously in Israel's history.
8:24: Sharon has also refused to give Colin Powell a timetable for withdrawl.
April 11, 2002:
Horror stories continue to emerge of torture and dehumanisation. Eyewitnesses state that Israeli forces are now digging large holes inside Jenin refugee camp and in surrounding areas, fearing that these are mass graves. Eyewitnesses saw Israeli forces putting bodies inside the holes. Further reports of executions are materialising. Read more.
Recent photos from Ramallah.
[All reported times in GMT]
22:15: Report of mass graves being dug in the occupied Territories.
21:30: With Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, arriving in Jerusalem tonight the soldiers blocked the United Nations, the Red Cross and the media from entering the ³closed military area² where scores of Palestinians, as well as 22 Israeli soldiers, have been killed in ferocious close-quarter fighting.Report
20:40: Ta'ayush - Arab-Jewish Partnership call for march to Jenin (Salem) Checkpoint this coming Saturday April 13th, at 11:00 AM "We shall march in protest against these horrors, from the Megido junction to the Salem checkpoint on the road to Jenin. The trucks accompanying us will carry much needed emergency supplies for the homeless, the destitute and the expelled of Jenin."
19:15: Request for medics in Palestine.
19:00: Update from bethlehem.
18.15: Mohammed Dahlan, a senior aide to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat announces that the Palestinian Authority has called for the United Nations to investigate the killings in Jenin refugee camp.Report
17.30: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency estimates that around 3,000 women and children in and around the Jenin refugee camp had been made homeless
16:55: Ariel Sharon shrugged off a fresh barrage of demands from the international community to end his military assault in the West Bank, declaring that there were still "thousands of terrorists" at large, "with a tremendous quantity of weapons and explosives".Report
16:10: EU asks Israel to end Church of Nativity siege
14:30: The Presidential compound is reaching a health and sanitation crisis. With no running water for almost three weeks the hundreds of people still trapped inside have been unable to flush toilets, wash themselves or clean areas within the compound. Medical personnel outside the compound who have been unable to reach those inside fear that the spread of disease is imminent.
14:15: BBC world service has reported that the over 4000 Palestinians have been arrested by Israel since the beginning of the incursions.
13:00 Reports of rampant stealing by the Israeli Army in Ramallah.
8:02: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency deputy representative to the territories, Karin Abu Ziyad, said Thursday that some 3,000 women and children in and around the Jenin refugee camp had been made homeless by the recent IDF operation.
5:48: IMC Jerusalem reports that a Palestinian man now living in Romani has been dumped by Israeli soldiers at nearby Salem checkpoint after having been arrested or escaping from Jenin. 160 were dumped naked outside of Syba. We heard several stories of horror from the men.
4:14: A press release from the Lutheran Church has claimed that mines have been planted in the streets of the Old City by the soldiers, some of which have already exploded.
April 10, 2002:
Intensified attacks overnight in Nablus and Jenin while horrific treatment of Palestinian prisoners emerges. Meanwhile Palestine solidarity actions are taking place all over the World. See photos of solidarity demonstrations in several countries here
[All reported times in GMT]
20:15:Report of some of the human rights violations carried out today in Bethlehem.
15:25 A monk was shot and seriously wounded in the Church of the Nativity compound in Bethlehem. A senior IDF source confirmed that an Armenian monk in the compound had most likely been hit by IDF fire.Report
14:45: The Palestine Monitor, A PNGO Information Clearinghouse reports on the casualties of the lifting of the curfews.
14:40:The United Nations, the United States,the European Union and Russia issued a joint statement today urging Israel to withdraw from Palestian territories and for both sides to call an immediate ceasefire and prevent the conflict from spreading.
13:00: IMC Jerusalem has reported that the Israeli army are now bombing the buildings which remain standing inside the Presidential Compound. The buildings hit surround the area where those still inside are. We are gravely concerned for their safety.
9:30: Eyewitness reports of Israeli army burying massacre victims in mass graves.
5:48: Israeli army is now flattening the entire Jenin refugee camp.Report
April 09, 2002:
Israel intensifyes its attacks and IDF moves into Dura. IMC Jerusalem has reported that more than one third of the camp houses have been bulldozed causing total destruction.
Fear of torture | Reports of pure horror | Horrifying report from Jenin | The Israeli 'Withdrawal'- Only Partially True
[All reported times in GMT]
22:00: IMC-Jerusalem reports that Gaza is now under attack.
19:30: Oxygen, and other critical supplies unable to reach Nablus hospitals.Report
12.10: Eyewitnesses have reported that an Israeli soldier opened fire on a hundred demonstrators on their way to the Jenin checkpoint.
8:18: This morning, Israeli forces entered Dora, southwest Hebron, and shelled residential buildings. Report
00:01: IDF have spread to smaller villages, but declares that they will continue keeping occupied under siege: Ramallah, Betlehem, Nablus and Jenin.Reports of pure horror
April 8, 2002:
Appeal fron 'internationals' inside Arafat's compound | Human Shields |Urgent Call to Action:Come to Palestine
The massacre in Palestine continues, in defiance of global condemnation. Heavy attacks and air raids in Jenin and Nablus. The IDF says it has reopened the Negev desert prison - it is thought that this is where they are taking the thousand plus Palestinians arrested this week.
[All reported times in GMT]
23:00: IDF have began to reach Qalqilyah, and Tulkarem is next. They have now withdrawn from Yata. This was after pressure from Bush. At the same time there are reports of a large number of killed civilians in Jenin.War crimes continue
22:45: Israel minister of external affairs Shimon Peres have said that Israel will ease Araftas isolation, if Powell meets Arafat, if this occurs the most probable location will be in Arafats headquarters in Ramallah.
20:50: The leader of the Hizbollah Sheikh Nasrallah says the attacks on the border of Libanon/Israel will continue.
18:50: IDF says they have completed the operations in Nablus; 500 Palestinians have surrendered to IDF in the last hour.
18:00: A bus with activists from US, England, Ireland and Japan have just arrived to Nablus. They will function as human shields in hospitals and ambulances.
April 7, 2002:
Israeli war crimes | Bulldozers in Bethlehem
A humanitarian crisis looms in Palestine as over one million people enter day ten of attack. As Israel cuts the occupied territories' connection with the outside world, information is scant. Witnesses in Azza camp report APC's firing at buildings full of civilians.This morning, the Israeli army announced a full curfew in the Bethlehem area. Anyone in the street runs the risk of shooting. Local sources report large numbers of arrests in the Beit Sahour and Beit Jala areas after door-to-door searches: 250 arrests in the entire district.
April 6, 2002:
Missiles at Jenin camp| Bodies pile up in Jenin |Internationals with aid denied access | Israel peace demo | Balata homes destoyed | Plans to destroy Jenin | Nablus insider warns of massacre | Arafat's compound fired at | Latest from Jenin | Eyewitness in Jenin: audio | Red Crescent denied access to Bethlehem| News from Gaza | Jenin Bombarded | Update from Bethlehem | IMC Palestine down
[All reported times in GMT]
23:00: From just outside Jenin, eye witness reports that more than 400 missiles have been fired by Apache helicopters at the camp. They are NOW removing some houses at the eastern entrance of the camp, widening the streets to make space for their tanks to enter.Women and children are being used by the IDF as human shields. Many bodies are scattered in the narrow alleys of the camp, and need to be taken to the hospital. At least 100 are dead.
22:30:Internationals with food and aid denied access to trapped Palestinians in Manger Square, Bethlehem.
22:00: Around 20,000 at peace demo in Tel Aviv.
21:30: Inside reports that Balata is now surrounded with tanks: homes - with people inside - are being destroyed
20:30: Jenin still heavily under fire: constant attacks from helicopter gunships. Insiders appealing for help. Al-Jazeera reports that the Israeli chief of staff, Gen Mofaz, plans to destroy Jenin.
20:00: BBC reports that Nablus is in flames, still under attack from helicopter gunships, tanks and guns. Residents are calling for help: "There is a massacre going on," says one Nablus shopkeeper. Number of casualties in Jenin and Nablus not known; media and medics are being denied access.
19:20: BBC reports that Arafat's compound in Ramallah is being fired at.Report from inside compound
17:15:Latest from Jenin.(It/Eng). Calls from inside the camp: "Help, they are killing us." Reports that 40 houses have been destroyed with families inside.Jenin hospital under siege and unable to reach or help the injured.
eyewitness in Jenin
14:47: Friends of the Earth Middle East calls on Israeli Governemnt to supply medicines, water and food to Palestinian towns and refugee camps under siege. Press Release.
13:40: Red Crescent Denied Entry to Bethlehem Church of Nativity. Unable to Deliver Food and Medical Aid Report.
07:15: News from Gaza. Electricity supply has been cut off, and reports of many IDF tanks aproaching Gaza's border.
14:47: Friends of the Earth Middle East call for aid.
06:57: Reports of Jenin refugee camp being bombarded.
02:17: Update from Bethlehem Israeli forces widened the scope of their operations, according to mainstream media - moving into the autonomous towns of Yatta, south of Hebron, and Qabatiya, north of Nablus. Reports also of overnight attacks, the worst in Jenin and Nablus. The IDF is using missile-firing helicoptors, tanks and machine guns.
Reports that IMC Palestine has lost its net connection; details not yet known, but updates stopped yesterday night.
April 5, 2002:
Detailed update and appeal from inside Ramallah |Troops accused of storming Nativity church | Bethlehem evacuations | Ambulance held at gunpoint | Reporters tear-gassed at Zinni-Arafat meeting | Sixteen journalists arrested in Bethlehem | UK citizens in the Al-Azzeh Refugee Camp issue a statement
[All reported times in GMT]
19:30: Unconfirmed reports state that the IDF have taken the Palestinan minister for culture and information from his home on the outskirts of Ramallah. Also the Fathers in the Church for the Nativity have refuted claims that they are being held hostage by the Palestininans who took refuge their from the fighting, this message was made clear in order to prevent an attack from IDF forces currently surrounding the building.
5:45: Detailed update and appeal from inside Ramallah
15:24: Azza camp: A local car attempting to drive away from an armoured personnel carrier received heavy fire knocking out all its windows. A casualty is reported but unconfirmed. Medics able to enter the area are currently being interrrogated and harassed by six soldiers as five international civilians observe the unfolding situation.
15:00: Israeli helicopters have shot two rockets against a vehicle in citta', Hebron, where there has been a recent withdrawl of international presence.
13.30: Italy IMC reports that a curfew has been temporarily suspended on Bethlehem from the hours 13:00 to 17:00, and Ramallah for three hours.
13:00: American citizen Karen Wheeler and British national Dan Glazebrook were forcibly taken off a UPMRC ambulance one hour ago. They were arrested and taken to the Beit El military compound, the British embassy confirmed.
12:45: Report from Evacuation, Azza camp states that soldiers have surrounded the Church of the Nativity. A clergy man has been killed and two ambulances were crushed by tanks; 200 people remain inside. Also reports that yesterday the Israeli soldiers lifted the curfew in Ramallah, but when people left their homes to get food, seven were shot.
12:30pm: Jerusalem IMC reports that an ambulance team who delivered a Palestinian man with gunshot wounds to the al-Husayn Hospital were detained at gunpoint for three hours with their hands tied behind their backs and guns to their heads, before being warned not try to save anyone else. They were eventually let through.
11:51am: Soldiers used tear gas and stun grenades on reporters covering Zinni-Arafat meeting
11:20: Jerusalem IMC has reported that the old city of Nablus, occupied exclusively by families, continues to be heavily shelled by tanks and helicopter gunships as the IDF prepares to storm the streets of the old city. Eleven casualties have been reported in Nablus since last night.
04:26: Sixteen journalists arrested in Bethlehem
03:40: IMC Jurusalem have reported that Israeli forces have just begun firing on Balata refugee camp with, American made, Apache helicopters. It is being reported that there are many casualties and deaths but still there is no medical help available.
01:30: UK citizens in the Al-Azzeh Refugee Camp issue a statement
April 4, 2002:
Missing people alert |cessation of all Red Crescent operations. Church of the Nativity attacked |Italian MP's & activists expelled |IMC news roundup |The bloody Battle of Bethlehem
[All reported times in GMT]
1:30am: UK citizens in the Al-Azzeh Refugee Camp issue a statement why they have chosen to stay in the Al-Azzeh refugee camp in Bethlehem.
22:30:Nine international civilians left the Presidential compound in Ramallah today with two Red Crescent ambulances, reports Jerusalem IMC. They left the compound at 5pm, in order to be driven a checkpoint where they were going to meet representatives from the German and French embassies and be given safe passage to Jerusalem. To this point, no one in the compound, nor the embassies, have heard from the internationals. There has been a posting asking urgently if Guillaume Morin, Ewenn Salomon and Jean-Paul Mignon have been seen but no other names are confirmed. The Red Crescent office reports that the ambulance drivers have not checked in either and has issued a statement of the cessation of all Red Crescent operations. Currently there are three ambulances that have been damaged by the occupation forces sitting in the courtyard of the Presidential compound. Local reports state that IDF soldiers have used the ambulances to drive into the refugee camps.
13:10Italy IMC reports that the rear doors to the church of the Nativity have been blown off and fears of the soldiers entering are increasing. Approx. 200 people inside.
12:20Jerusalem IMC reports of increased military activity in Manger square. The Syrian church is surrounded by fifty IDF troops and an ultimatum has been given saying this is the last chance for people to come out.
8:47From the Presidential Compound: The situation inside the compound is extremely grave. There have been no medical supplies allowed in and there are still injured inside requiring care. The food supplies have also dwindled dangerously and the bottled water available has almost gone.
7:30A delegation of Italian MP's and Union officials have been expelled and sent back to Italy.
April 3, 2002
Ambulance team arrested en-route to Bethlehem | International Delegations in the Bethlehem refugee camps press statement | Water cut off | Ambulance shot at by IDF | 2000+ peace activists march to Kalandia checkpoint | a href="http://www.uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=26731&group=webcast">Peace activists beaten back
15:45: An ambulance has come under fire in Ramallah trying to get around IDF tanks. Internationals and medical staff were told over loudspeakers to stay inside the hospital. Then the IDF proceeded to open live fire on the hospital.
12:55: An aid truck previously let through by the occupation forces was attacked. Soldiers took off medical supplies, sugar, flour and other food aid stamping it into the ground, then threw tear gas again at the group. Earlier they shot at a UN convoy. Now they are beating the protestors with batons.
12:30: A group of 2000 people including internationals, Israeli and Arab civilians in 30 buses have arrived at Aram checkpoint in an attempt to deliver humanitarian aid. Despite foul weather and copious amounts of tear gas they remain committed and a truck with aid has been let through. One ambulance is still free going around the city attempting to provide assistance
April 2, 2002:
Photo compilation of recent days | 55-year old shot dead after leaving hospital | Internationals protecting Palestinian youths digging graves | attack on ambulances | attack on religious buildings | attack on journalist | US activists refuse evacuation from Azza Refugee Camp | Bethlehem's Lutheran church shelled | Ambulances used for executions |Compilation of worldwide solidarity protests
22:30: 300 people, including families, fighters and journalists, are being held prisoners in the three churches of the square, with the IDF threatening to bomb them if they do not surrender.
22:00: The mosque in Bethlehem, a holy site for Muslims and Christians alike, has been bombed by the IDF. At least five people are dead and 30 wounded so far. The Israelian army is preventing any ambulances from arriving, allowing innocent people to bleed to death. The situation continues to deteriorate by the minute, with the IDF attacking Red Crescent and UN ambulances, religious buildings, television and communication stations and journalists.
Fighting is continuing throughout Bethlehem and the Aza, Ayda and Deheishe refugee camps nearby. The IDF have declared these areas "closed military zones" and have ordered all internationals to leave - however many are defying this.
18:30: IMC Italy reports that 17 international pacifists in Ramallah are protecting Palestinian youths who are digging graves in the hospital car park. No Palestinian ambulances active, 200 tanks present, ambulances with injured are coming under attack.
17:00: Reuters reports that 12 IDF tanks have entered Jenin.
IDF attacks continue in Bethlehem.
16:00: ISM activist Neta Golan who is staying inside the presidential compound in Ramallah indicates in a phone call with Italy IMC a severe shortage of medicine, water, and food. More than 32 internationals are staying inside the compound trying to create a human shield.
14:30: In Deheishe, the IDF is calling all men between the age of 15-50, and all women aged 15-25 to turn themselves in. Earlier, two IDF tanks were attacked by Palestinian children - 12-13 years old - with homemade bombs. There are IDF injuries, and the Israeli army called in 15 tanks after the bombings this morning, entering the camp from all sides.
In Bethlehem, IDF attacks continue throughout the city. Tanks have surrounded the IMC office in Bethlehem proper.
14:03: Italy imc reports the presidential compound in Ramallah is currently being fired upon with 34 foreign peace activists inside. There is a dire shortage of food and no water and a urgent need of medical supplies. Palestinian doctors were forced to dig a mass grave in the parking lot of the Ramallah hospital today to bury 25 of the dead bodies that have been retrieved over the past 4 days +++ 12:00:Widad Majed Nimr Safwan, a 56-year old Palestinian woman released from Ramallah hospital, was was shot dead by Israeli snipers as she left the Rammallah hospital. She was shot in the cheek and the back of the neck. An Italian civilian delegation witnessed the event and carried the injured woman back to hospital for treatment. This report was later confirmed by AP. The woman had gone to the hospital to have a plaster cast removed from her leg.
British citizens have been denied evacuation on humanitarian grounds, while ten consular officials of various nationalities have been denied access to internationals civilians in Ramallah. Ayda and Azza refugee camps have had their power turned off. Agence France Press reports that a Catholic priest has been shot dead and several nuns injured in Bethlehem but the Vatican later denies this.
08:30: The whole Bethlehem area has been declared a closed military zone; press are not allowed in. Fierce gunbattles raging and the Tanzim (Palestininan resistance fighters) are being pushed toward Manger Square. The Star Hotel, where some of the international peace delegation are staying, has 10 tanks stationed outside. Journalists are also with the group. An Al Jazeera journalist has been shot whilst on the 5th floor of the hotel. A bulldozer has just been sighted driving past Azza refugee camp. There are troops and tanks in all the refugee camps.Inside witnesses fear what is about to happen in view of these sinister developments.
An Irish nurse in Bethlehem reports to Irish morning radio in an audio interview
06:01: Internationals in Ayda refugee camp report heavy gunfire and IDF soldiers on the ground swarming throughout the camp. An Italian national, Ricardo, reports that soldiers have taken over a house next to him and are firing from the roof.
April 1, 2002 Account from the ground | Video of Israeli army shooting international activists | Video of Mondays protest in Beit Jala | Students Dormitory under Siege in Ramallah | Three More Refusniks Jailed | Collaborators killed in besieged West Bank
02:30: Bethlehem: Heavy fighting outside the Ibda'a computer center; those inside are all on the floor and can clearly hear a tank rolling by the building, as well as tank fire, mortar fire and gun clashes. It appears that the IDF have entered Dehaishe via the Ibda'a entrance.
01:30: Ramallah: The Israeli army is shelling the local security building Al Ammen Al Weka'ai [Preventitive Security], a government building with 400+ people inside, including 60 women. Reporters inside say that the building is on fire. Huwaida Arraf is reporting that they are still hearing constant shelling very close to where they live, which seems to be coming from the Amaari Refugee camp.
150 international peace activists protested in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem on Monday as the ongoing re-occupation of Palestine continues. Eight international civilians and two members of the Palestinian press were wounded by Israeli live fire. Among the wounded are: British citizens Aisa Kiysue, Kunle Ibidun, Chris Dunham (he was part of the international solidarity movement who visited Palestine last christmas); Australian citizen Kate Irving (currently being examined to see if surgery will be required); and American citizen Said Khulil. The wounded have been taken to Al Huissen Hospital in Bethlehem. The internationals were attempting to visit families in homes that have been occupied by the Israeli Army.
Reports:
Video of Mondays protest in Beit Jala | Video of Israeli army shooting international activists | Audio Interview with Sam Bahour about situation in the Ramallah area | International peace activists in Beit Jala | Picture 1 | Picture 2) | Audio report (MP3) by Chris Dunham from last Xmas | Video of Israeli army shooting international activists | Video of Mondays protest in Beit Jala | Students Dormitory under Siege in Ramallah | Three More Refusniks Jailed | Collaborators killed in besieged West Bank
Solidarity protests in Dublin and London
Many IMC's are being flooded with provocative and inflammatory hate postings from both sides. There are also reports of widespread hacking.
March 31, 2002:
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| Israeli forces continue military assault in Ramallah | IDF issues 20,000 mandatory call-up notices | Tanks surround Bethlehem area: Audio Interview streamed | Audio Interview downloadable | Israeli soldiers in Ramallah screen porn on Palestinian TV | 15 Killed in suicide bombing in Haifa
March 30, 2002:
Ramallah eyewitness | Palestine Monitor Report | Indymedia Italy front page timeline (English) | Ramallah online | Ramallah Update & activist contact tel no's | Land Day | Report from Ramallah
More info and updates:
Timeline of Events | Call to Solidarity | Solidarity demo in London | Palestine IMC | IMC-Print special Palestine | Maps of occupied Territories
Sites of interest:
Israeli Conscientious Objectors website | Letter from Israeli refusenik to American jews
Audio:
Flashpoint Radio | Report 1 | Report 2