Report: Israeli attacks against Palestinians drastically escalating during COVID-19 pandemic
Written by: Ruhi Rizvi
When much of the world is under lockdown under protocol for protection against the COVID-19 pandemic, Israeli soldiers and settlers have been taking full advantage of this situation. They have raided homes of Palestinian families and pursue their ongoing onslaught of innocent Palestinians in a number of ways.
B’Tselem documented that despite imposing lockdown, social distancing measures and movement restrictions, attacks against Palestinians in the West bank have escalated. Settlers have beaten and shot their cars and torched properties. A number of settlers have also spat on Palestinians passing by, forcing them into self isolation.
On April 16, Issa and his brother Musa Qatash, both were attacked and beaten severely by settlers. Issa’s ordeal lasted longer and he received life threatening injuries and became unconscious. He remained admitted in hospital for a total of six days, now isolating at home. In a testimony to Iyad Hadad, B'Tselem field researcher, he said: “I could barely protect my head and face from the blows. Someone hit me hard on the mouth and I could feel my front teeth break. Blood started trickling into my mouth and down my face. I shouted and cried out: “For God’s sake, what did I do to you? Do you have no mercy? You’re killing me. Have mercy.” But none of them listened. At some point, I collapsed. I had no strength left. Then they tied my hands behind my back with some rope. The armed settler pointed his gun at my head and cocked it, as if he was going to shoot me in the head. I started reciting the “Shahadah” over and over: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.” I thought my time had come to die.
They kept on beating me and swearing at me, and threatened to kill me. Then they pulled me up on my feet. I could barely walk and it felt like my left leg was broken, but they forced me to walk. They led me, limping, through the wild oats, rocks, bushes and thorns. Every now and then I fell down, but they pulled me back up and forced me to keep walking. I was in a terrible state, bleeding from the mouth and hardly able to open my eyes, which were swelling up with every step I took. My throat was dry and I felt like I was dying of thirst. Psychologically, I was broken. It was a terrible situation, only God can imagine it. They kept slapping and kicking me and swearing at me the whole way. They spat on me, too.
In last few weeks many Palestinian homes have been raided in the middle of the night. Several reports suggest whilst asleep the Israeli soldiers simple breakdown the main door and let themselves in. Unashamedly, it doesn't occur to them that they are violating a family's privacy or human rights. There are mothers and daughters in these households who perhaps need to keep themselves further covered from the opposite gender especially as they are in their night clothes. This intimidating behaviour is extremely frightening and traumatic for them, not only due to the unexpected visits but more so due to dangers of contracting COVID-19 at this particular time.
From March and moving into April, 100 homes in the West bank have been raided and young males have been taken into custody. Several reports describe of homes being turned upside down, as the soldiers make their way across the home and enter individual bedrooms. In some cases, the rest of the family is shoved into a single room; young boys are pulled out of their sleep and given protective gear to wear head to toe. It must be noted that this protection is for themselves and not of the young Palestinian person. Houses are searched thoroughly, including flooring tiles being removed. In instances of anyone being seen using their mobile phone to write a report about the raid, their phones are confiscated and removed.
Families have been left pleading with the soldiers to leave their sons, but the soldiers always have trumped up charges prepared against the minor for making these illegal arrests. Location of the kidnapped minors is withheld and family members have to make contact with other services to retrieve information.
In one case, it was later disclosed one of the young boys; Imad was put in a detention cell with a Covid-19 positive carrier who was released from prison in the South. His sister wrote:
We’re very worried about ‘Imad, especially now with the corona outbreak. We have no idea what’s going on inside the prisons. The thought of what might happen there, especially because of the harsh conditions the Israelis keep Palestinian detainees in, is very scary. From what we hear, there are no medical services and not even minimal hygiene. What if, God forbid, the disease spreads throughout the prison? It would be a disaster.
If the ongoing aggression by Israelis during the Novel Coronavirus pandemic wasn’t already bad enough, B’Tselem's report also revealed, how the Israelis confiscated the Palestinian field clinic for virus victims in bid to further wound the sick and distressed Palestinians. On March 26, officials from Israelis Civil adminstration in the west bank arrived and with a military jeep escort, a bulldozer and 2 flat bed cranes at the Palestinian community of Khirbet Ibziq. Mondoweiss news reports: “They confiscated poles and sheeting that were meant to form eight tents, two for a field clinic, and four for emergency housing for residents evacuated from their homes, and two as makeshift mosques. The force also confiscated a tin shack in place for more than two years, as well as a power generator and sacks of sand and cement. Four pallets of cinder blocks intended for the tent floors were taken away and four others demolished”.
In a very recent report documented by Middle East Monitor, tests are being carried out on Palestinian prisoners. If they become COVID-19 positive for the virus, the spread within PalesrtinIan parameters and homes could face a catastrophic effect.
The soldiers themselves are keeping themselves well protected at all times from the virus but have no due care for exposure of the disease for Palestinian families. A medical centre in West Bank was destroyed, where Palestinians seek medical needs. Recently, the IDF soldiers received large imports of PPE equipment provided by many supporting countries. On the UK falling short of PPE equipment, one report highlighted how the Israeli government bluntly rejected its support.
Earlier, it was also reported that no financial loss to the Israelis had come about due to Corona virus cutbacks and Israel continues to safeguard a sum of $3.8 billion dollars. Israel’s Jerusalem Post newspaper reports that “nearly all the experts” it consulted believe that Israel will get at least $3.8 billion from the U.S. in the coming year despite economic devastation to the U.S. economy caused by the corona virus pandemic. The continued violence and aggression meted out by IDF soldiers, in March also saw its 10,000th Palestinian killed since 2000. An unarmed 15 year old boy was shot by a sniper in the head with an expanding bullet. Yet this has been largely ignored by the mass media.
It must be stated that in most instances of this cycle of violence, hundreds upon hundreds of Palestinians have been killed annually in unprovoked attacks. Their homes have been snatched away from them and their basic human rights are violated multiple times by these perpetrators, who see no end to their crimes.
The fact that Israeli soldiers with support from their government, have always behaved ruthlessly with Palestinians since occupying Palestinian land in 1947, families in most cases expect the worst case scenario. However, they can never succumb to victimisation and aggression of this kind, which sees them lose their land and loved ones. COVID-19 has just become a huge advantage to the Israeli government, if they can use it to wipe out the Palestinians to continue further occupation of Palestinian land instead.
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