Palestinian injured in settler attacks in occupied West Bank
A young Palestinian has been injured by gunfire during an attack by Israeli settlers who were protected by the Israeli military.
The Wafa news agency quotes a local activist as saying the attack targeted homes of residents in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.
It also reported another settler attack in the village of Dhahr al-Abad, southwest of Jenin in the northern West Bank, during which Israeli settlers cut down 15 olive trees belonging to Palestinians using electric saws.
In the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, residents said hundreds of settlers gathered in a designated area under protection from the Israeli army to celebrate a Jewish festival.
An estimated 100,000 settlers are reportedly expected to enter the neighbourhood in the next two days, amid concerns of settler attacks on Palestinian homes and residents there.
20,000 with life-threatening conditions blocked from treatment abroad
More than 20,000 patients with severe disease are waiting for the opening of the Rafah crossing to leave Gaza for urgent medical treatment.
“More than 20,000 patients suffering of cancer, heart and blood diseases are waiting for the opening of the crossing in inhumane conditions due to the occupation, siege and war of extermination imposed on civilians in Gaza,” Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.
Al-Qudra called it “a war crime and a blatant violation of the health rights of patients stipulated in international humanitarian law”.
He urged the international community to intervene and save the victims from complications and death, highlighting that Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities have rendered them inoperative.
‘Tangible pressure’ needed to rein in Israel
Daniel Levy, president of the US/Middle East Project think tank, says the international pressure placed on Prime Minister Netanyahu the past week is “mostly in the symbolic realm”.
“The layers and layers of impunity that Israel has built up are being slowly chipped away at. But what are we seeing in terms of the flow of weapons? What are we seeing in terms of trade? Israel’s participation in international sporting events?” Levy, a former Israeli government negotiator, told Al Jazeera.
“I think this tells us this is a week we’ll look back on and say, ‘This was the beginning in a real shift in pressure.’ But right now, it needs to be really intensified.”
He said the internal debate inside Israel’s fractious coalition government right now is whether to ethnically cleanse Gaza, or just to occupy it militarily.
“The only reason Israel is doing what it’s doing is because there has been no accountability. There has been impunity. We all know the United States does an awful lot, with its European allies, to shield Israel,” Levy said.
Rights monitor outlines Israeli torture methods of Palestinian prisoners
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor says it documented 42 forms of torture and inhumane and degrading treatment committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian prisoners since the start of the war on Gaza.
Some of the forms of abuse reported by the Geneva-based group, based on 100 testimonies, include:
- Breaking bones and teeth
- Threats of rape
- Electric shocks
- Strip searches and forced nudity
- Urinating and spitting on detainees
- Humiliation by dressing detainees in diapers
🧵Forcing them to imitate animal sounds
dressing them in diapers
and tooth-breaking
Among 42 forms of torture & inhumane & degrading treatment documented by Euro-Med Monitor based on 100 testimonies,these are 10 methods practiced by the Israeli army against detainees from Gaza⤵️ pic.twitter.com/sufwAGg5NK
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) May 25, 2024
