Israel drastically restricting movement in the occupied West Bank: B’Tselem
The Israeli rights group says that since the start of the Gaza war, Israeli authorities have disrupted the lives of two million Palestinians by tightening existing movement restrictions.
It has carried this out by using “its network of checkpoints to tighten supervision, setting up dozens of new checkpoints, blocking access from dozens of villages to main roads, and revoking all permits for Palestinians to enter Israel for work or other reasons,” B’Tselem says.
“These restrictions do not allow Palestinians in the West Bank to maintain a reasonable routine and disrupt every area of life. They cause major financial losses, limit access to medical care and studies, and harm family life and social activities.”
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Israeli closures in Hebron Old City lead to economic paralysis: Official
According to Emad Hamdan, director of the Hebron Reconstruction Committee in the occupied West Bank, 80 percent of the shops in Hebron’s Old City have been shuttered because of military curfews and closures. “Palestinians are unable to enter or leave Hebron easily or at all sometimes, as well as tourists and worshippers, due to the closure of entrances to the city and the rest of the adjacent Palestinian villages,” Hamdan tells Al Jazeera.
Since October 7, the Old City of Hebron has been particularly hard-hit by punitive action on the part of the Israelis, especially after authorities imposed a military curfew on large swaths of the area, he says. This also meant preventing residents from leaving their homes, imposing closures on shops and sealing off all entrances to the Old City.
Israeli jets hit southern Lebanon: Report
An Israeli raid has targeted the vicinity of the town of Kafra, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency is reporting. There were no reports of casualties at this time. The video below, verified by Al Jazeera, shows the aftermath of the attack. The account that posted the video says a tank of diesel fuel was ignited, bursting into flames.
Israeli bombing kills three civilians in southern Lebanon
A mother, father and their son have been killed in the town of Houla, Mayor Shakib Koteish told the Reuters news agency. “It was a three-floor house, now it’s all the way collapsed and the rescue workers are still working to see who is left under it,” he said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency confirmed the reported deaths. The son was 25 years old, according to local media reports, which cited medical sources.
Bellingcat finds soldier’s images, videos of mistreated Palestinian detainees
The investigative journalism group says it has found soldiers’ social media accounts containing posts that raise concerns about the treatment of Palestinian detainees. “We found content showing men blindfolded and bound, draped in flags and soldiers appearing to throw US money at those being held,” the group says.
In multiple cases, Bellingcat documented soldiers draping detainees in Israeli flags and posing with them. “We found one such case on the ‘Hamas Hunting Club’ Instagram page, which appears to have been created in November 2023 by a group of US soldiers serving in the [Israeli military].”
The group adds, “The Hamas Hunting Club page isn’t limited to showcasing Palestinian detainees, either. The account posted a video on December 11 of an Israeli soldier writing ‘send nudes’ on an artillery shell in Gaza. The account set this video to the Drake song ‘Way 2 Sexy.'”
Bellingcat says the collection of images and videos showing soldiers engaging in acts that may amount to degrading treatment of detainees “raises serious concerns regarding the [Israeli military’s] conduct.”
With @ytirawi , Bellingcat have found IDF soldiers' social accounts that raise concerns about the treatment of detainees. We found content showing men blindfolded and bound, draped in flags and soldiers appearing to throw US money at those being held. https://t.co/fceOilalhu
— Bellingcat (@bellingcat) March 5, 2024
US sanctions former Israeli official, his spyware company
The US Department of the Treasury says it has sanctioned two people and five entities associated with the Intellexa Consortium “for their role in developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware technology used to target Americans, including US government officials, journalists, and policy experts”.
The Treasury identified one of the individuals as Tal Dilian, a retired Israeli military intelligence officer, who founded and co-owns Intellexa, the maker of Predator spyware. According to Reuters News Agency, Dillian launched the company in Israel but later moved abroad, establishing operations in Cyprus and Greece. In addition to acting as an individual company, Intellexa owns, invests in and also partners with other spyware firms under a consortium model, according to analysts.
“Once a device is infected by the Predator spyware, the spyware can be leveraged for a variety of information stealing and surveillance capabilities—this includes the unauthorized extraction of data, geolocation tracking, and access to a variety of applications and personal information on the compromised device,” Treasury Department officials said in a statement.
Israeli bombardment killed MSF UK board trustee, organisation says
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says it believes Reem Abu Lebdeh, an associate trustee of the MSF UK board of directors and former staff member in Gaza, was killed sometime in December 2023. “Though the exact circumstances and date of Reem’s death remain unclear, we believe she was killed along with members of her family at their home in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Palestine. Some members of her family remain unaccounted for,” the organisation says.
Reem worked as a physiotherapist for MSF in Gaza from 2018 until 2022, and last year was appointed as an associate trustee of the MSF UK Board. “Reem is the fifth MSF colleague killed in Gaza since the beginning of this war. Several members of our staff remain unaccounted for. We reiterate our urgent call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire to spare the lives of civilians and allow for substantial aid to enter Gaza.”
We are devastated about the death of Reem Abu Lebdeh, an associate trustee of the MSF UK Board and former staff member in #Gaza, whom we believe was killed sometime in December 2023 along with members of her family at their home in Khan Younis, Gaza.
— MSF International (@MSF) March 5, 2024
