Nighttime raid causes ‘massive destruction’ in Tulkarem
We know of at least five overnight raids in the occupied West Bank. The most consequential of those was in Nur Shams near Tulkarem in the north of the territory. The Israeli military used five of its enormous bulldozers in that raid.
Those bulldozers are specifically designed and used to cause massive destruction, dragging up streets and drains and destroying houses. It’s often a sort of collective punishment the Israelis inflict on these refugee camps where some armed groups are operating.
The Israeli military is also still looking for a gunman or gunmen who opened fire near an illegal outpost that the Israelis call Homesh. All settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, but there are some that even Israelis consider illegal themselves.
This particular settlement had been evacuated by the Israelis, but settlers went back there. It seems Palestinian gunmen opened fire around the settlement last night. As Israeli soldiers looked for the gunmen, seven of the soldiers were injured by an improved explosive device. There is still a manhunt going on for those involved.
More provocations
Israeli settlers desecrate tombstones at Islamic cemetery
Israeli settlers have smashed and defaced tombstones at an historic Islamic cemetery along the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Media Center, which documented the vandalism.
The cemetery, Bab al-Rahma, hosts the graves of notable companions of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
#شاهد
مستــوطنون يحطمون شواهد قبور في مقبرة باب الرحمة المحاذية للسور الشرقي للمسجد الأقصى المبارك pic.twitter.com/FQXiytuteP
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) March 9, 2024
Upcoming UN report finds ‘drastic acceleration’ in settlements
Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN’s human rights office in the occupied Palestinian territories, says the agency is publishing a report detailing the “drastic acceleration in settlement building alongside oppression, violence and discrimination against Palestinians”.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) interviewed Palestinian victims as well as a range of sources to “identify the pattern of violations” and draft recommendations, the organisation said.
“Israel’s human rights violations against the Palestinian population must cease immediately,” OHCHR wrote on X.
Israel’s human rights violations against the Palestinian population must cease immediately.
The new @UNHumanRights report highlights the dramatic increase in the intensity, severity & regularity of Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/fFDTlH68eg
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) March 9, 2024
In exclusive video, Israeli officer brags about killing unarmed civilian in Gaza City
Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive bodycam video, showing an Israeli army officer bragging to his comrades about shooting an unarmed elderly Palestinian man in Gaza City. “We got in and we opened fire,” the soldier said in the video dated November 6, last year. “He came towards me and he did this to me,” the officer said, waving his hands.
Asked whether the man was armed, the officer replied, “I don’t know, he hid under the bed.” “And you took him down, great,” another officer replied. “Four bullets, 14 degrees, brothers,” he said.
“It was fantastic,” the officer concluded.
