Israeli forces detain dozens of Palestinian workers

[ 05/02/2011 - 10:18 AM ]

NAZARETH, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces detained and beat up tens of Palestinian workers over the past couple of days while trying to find jobs in the 1948 occupied Palestinian land, the Palestinian Workers Union said on Friday. PWU added in a statement that the Israeli border police forces launched a campaign of arrests in lines of those workers despite some of them having work permits. It said that Israeli intelligence officers confiscated work permits of some of those workers and prevented them from returning to their work places in 1948 occupied Palestine. The Union warned of Israeli summary trials against those workers, adding that heavy fines were imposed on them.

Israeli police round up 600 Palestinian workers

[ 02/12/2010 - 11:11 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli police in the 1948 occupied Palestinian land rounded up 600 Palestinian workers from the West Bank for working in those lands without permit. The Israeli radio said on Wednesday night that the border police launched a large-scale arrest campaign, and said that 8 of those arrested were wanted for interrogation while the rest were jailed for illegally residing in 1948 occupied Palestine. Thousands of Palestinian workers head to the 1948 lands in search of jobs due to scarce work opportunities in the West Bank and worsening economic conditions.

500 Palestinian workers detained in October

[ 30/10/2010 - 10:15 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation police and border guards detained 500 Palestinian workers in the current month of October including 20 women for working in 1948 occupied Palestine without permits. A statement for the Palestinian trade union in the West Bank said that 20 of those workers were held in custody for interrogation while 50 were sentenced to 3 to 6 months in jail. It added that heavy fines were leveled against the rest before deporting them back to the West Bank. West Bank laborers seeking sustenance for their families venture into the 1948 occupied lands seeking jobs and are always harassed and persecuted by the Israeli security forces.

Detentions in West Bank and '48 areas

extract from PIC article

In the West Bank, IOF soldiers detained eight Palestinians in their routine raids on West Bank towns and cities. Citizens complain that the soldiers do not pay any attention to the sanctity of the holy Islamic fasting month of Ramadan and storm Palestinian homes at dawn when Muslims start to observe fasting.
An IOF spokesman said that 17 Palestinians workers were arrested on Monday for heading to their jobs in 1948 occupied land without permits.
Labor sources pointed out that the IOF rounded up 200 workers since the start of Ramadan almost a week ago.

Ahrar denounces IOF arrest of Palestinian woman

[ 19/07/2010 - 05:05 PM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- Ahrar center for prisoners' studies and human rights has denounced the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) for arresting a 57-year-old Palestinian woman in her house in Tulkarem at dawn Monday. Fouad Al-Khafsh, the center's director, said that a big number of IOF soldiers broke into the house of Fathiya Al-Suweis and wreaked havoc in it before taking away the lady, the whereabouts of whom is not known. He said that the woman is the mother of a sole child and is the sister of Ikhlas Al-Suweis, who is the wife of the detained Hamas leader Abbas Al-Sayyed who is serving 36 life sentences. Khafsh said that this is the first time that Suweis was detained, noting that the IOF had recently escalated detention of Palestinian women amidst total disregard on the part of human rights groups. He appealed to the international institutions and women organizations to confront the phenomenon. Meanwhile, Israeli occupation police on Monday rounded up 25 Palestinians in Tel Aviv at the pretext of entering 1948 occupied Palestine without a permit. Local sources said that 60 Palestinian workers were arrested since last Thursday from various areas in the 1948 occupied lands for the same reason.

Israeli police detain dozens of workers, settler runs over three citizens

[ 06/07/2010 - 04:48 PM ]

NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation police detained dozens of Palestinian workers from the West Bank while working in 1948 occupied Palestine. The occupation police rounded up 120 workers in less than a week, the Palestinian prisoner's committee said in a report on Tuesday, adding that ten of them were held for interrogation while the rest were transferred back to the West Bank many of whom after paying fines. Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have rounded up six Palestinians during raids in various West Bank areas at dawn Tuesday, local sources said, adding that they were detained in Tobas, Qalqilia, and Al-Khalil districts. In a separate incident, three Palestinian citizens were moderately wounded Tuesday afternoon after they were hit by a speeding car boarded by an Israeli settler near the settlement of Efrat, south of Bethlehem. Eyewitnesses told the PIC that the injured citizens were taken to a hospital in Al-Khalil, and one of them is still in a coma. Israeli troops and settlers driving cars deliberately run over Palestinians during their presence in the vicinity of settlements or nearby roads.

3 Gaza workers detained at Israeli border fence

Gaza – Ma'an – Three Gaza workers were detained by Israeli forces on Sunday as they attempted to cross over the barbed-wire fence east of Al-Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops opened fire after they spotted the workers, after which the three were detained and taken to an unknown location.

An Israeli military spokesman said "three suspects were identified approaching the security fence." As they approached the fence, Israeli forces detained them and took them for security questioning in Israel, he said.

The spokesman confirmed the fire of warning shots in the air.

Two weeks prior, a number of Gazan workers were detained also attempting cross through the border fence near Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza.

IOF troops deliberately break the limbs of 3 Palestinian workers

[ 30/12/2009 - 10:02 AM ]

BETHLEHEM, (PIC)-- Four Palestinian workers from the districts of Jenin and Tulkarem were beaten up by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) near Walaja village, Bethlehem district, on Tuesday. Local sources said that the workmen were trying to enter Palestine occupied in 1948 through this village since the separation wall had closed all entrances near their districts in northern West Bank, but they were spotted and chased by the soldiers. Eyewitnesses said that the soldiers were not content with beating the laborers but deliberately broke the limbs of three of them and arrested one of them. They said that two were hospitalized in Beit Jala for treatment. The IOF soldiers at an early hour on Wednesday rounded up four citizens in a number of West Bank areas at the pretext they were wanted for interrogation. The Jewish settlers, for their part, assaulted two Palestinian shepherds north of Al-Khalil and shot at and wounded a Palestinian youth in Al-Khalil city on Tuesday. Medical sources said that the young man's injuries were "moderate", noting that the shepherd was rearing his sheep near the settlement of Bat Ayin when a settler told him to leave the land and when he refused the settler shot him.

IOA renews administrative detention of Dr. Fidda

[ 22/11/2009 - 05:08 PM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) renewed the administrative detention, without trial or charge, of Dr. Majeda Fidda for three months for the fifth time running, the international Tadamun institution for human rights said. It added that Fidda, who was detained on 6/8/2009 was held for interrogation for a short period of time before holding her in administrative custody. The pharmacist is a Nablus municipality council member. Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up 132 Palestinian West Bank workers for entering Palestine occupied in 1948 without permits over the past couple of days. The arrests also included six Palestinians of the 1948 lands for assisting and sheltering a number of those workers. The Israeli police, which arrests on average 800 to 1000 Palestinians workers per month, said that the arrests focused in central occupied Palestine.

Israeli forces detain 252 Palestinian workers

Published today (updated) 15/11/2009 11:18

[MaanImages]

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli border guards detained and deported 252 Palestinians working without the required permits in Israel during the weekend, it was reported on Sunday.

The Palestinians arrested for residing and working in Israel illegally have been transferred to the West Bank.

Sixteen Israeli employers were also detained and questioned on charges of hiring Palestinian workers without the required permits.

Israeli police arrest 70 workers crammed into truck

Published Sunday 04/10/2009 (updated) 05/10/2009 18:06

Men emerge from the refrigerator truck

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli police discovered 70 Palestinian men seeking work in Israel crammed into the back of a refrigerator truck on Sunday.

The workers and the driver, reportedly from the Palestinian-Israeli town of Abu Ghosh, near Jerusalem, were arrested. The men were sent back to the West Bank, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said.

According to the report, Israeli Border Guards stopped the vehicle on Highway Six, a major north-south thoroughfare.

"We honestly didn’t expect to find this many people in the truck," Border Guard Chief-Inspector Yossi Frienti told the newspaper. "It was an inhumane sight, unfortunately. Animals shouldn’t be transported like that, let alone people."

The passengers boarded the truck in Shuafat, north of Jerusalem en route to the Wadi Ara area in northern Israel, the report said. The driver was reportedly to be paid a fee of 250-300 Israeli shekel (65-80 US dollars) for each passenger.

Palestinians working in Jerusalem and within Israeli boundaries arrested during Ramadan and Eid

posted on PNN
23.09.09 - 11:59
Jenin / Ali Samoudi - Secretary-General of the Federation of Unions of Palestine, Haidar Ibrahim reports that the occupying Israeli authority arrested 440 Palestinian workers during Ramadan.
On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, another 50 people were arrested.
The workers were from the West Bank and were in Jerusalem and inside Israeli boundaries. Israeli forces raided several factories and checked work permits. Some 32 Palestinians that were holding the necessary permits were arrested regardless and prevented from returning to their jobs. In a sewing factory near Nazareth 18 Palestinians were arrested and fined heavily by an Israeli court in Afula.
According to Ibrahim the army targeted workers en route to their homes for the Eid al-Fitr feast. They were held until the holiday was over.

Israeli Police arrest 18 Palestinian female workers

Thursday September 24, 2009 08:00 by IMEMC News

The Israeli police arrested 18 Palestinian female workers under the pretext that they were working in Nazareth without obtaining entry and work permits in Israel.

The workers were detained after the Israeli police raided a Sewing factory in Nazareth.
All detained workers were transferred to an Israeli court in Afula, and the court imposed high fines on them.
Palestinian workers, devastated by closures and Israeli restrictions, are facing ongoing Israeli attacks and hundreds were detained and fined for working in Israel ‘without obtaining the needed permits’. 

Israeli police arrest 14 Palestinian workers in Netanya

Published yesterday (updated) 11/09/2009 20:28

Israeli soldiers detain Palestinians
[MaanImages Archive]

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli troops detained 14 Palestinians north of Tel Aviv during a night raid in the early hours of Friday morning, saying the men were living in the area without permits.

Israeli sources said troops raided an apartment in Natania, took all of those staying there for investigations then released them to return to the West Bank.

Palestinian workers injured in Israel after police chase

Published yesterday (updated) 24/08/2009

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Twelve Palestinian workers from the West Bank were injured in a car accident near a Kibutz in the Negev desert in Israel on Monday after Israeli border guards chased them.

According to Israeli sources, border guards perceived three cars as suspicious and chased them. During the chase one car overturned and the workers in the car were injured.

In the same regard, Israeli forces detained three Arab residents of the city of Rahat, also in the Negev, on charges of helping Palestinian workers sneak into Israel from the West Bank. Israeli authorities claimed the workers injured in the road accident were had entered without work permits.

Medical sources said two of the injured Palestinians sustained moderate wounds and the rest were slightly injured.

IOF troops kidnap 6 Palestinians on Monday, a boy on Sunday

[ 17/08/2009 - 09:42 AM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped six Palestinians in various West Bank areas at dawn Monday while on Sunday they kidnapped a 14-year-old boy. Local sources said that IOF soldiers abducted two brothers in Jayus village after searching a number of village homes. In Qalqilia, an IOF unit took away Ala'a Abu Raid from Asala village while another 25-year-old youth was abducted in Arrana village, east of Jenin city. Two others were rounded up in other West Bank areas. IOF soldiers also kidnapped Nashmi Abu Rahma, 14, in Bil'in village, Ramallah district, while walking along with a group of friends near the racist, separation wall. On Saturday IOF soldiers detained a Palestinian young woman near the Jewish suburb in Al-Khalil city claiming that she had two knives in her possession. Also on Saturday, the IOF troops rounded up 150 Palestinian workers in Hasharon area in central Israel for working without legal permits.

Israeli police arrest 154 "illegal" Palestinians

Published yesterday (updated) 01/08/2009 22:53

Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Israeli authorities detained 154 so-called illegal Palestinian workers Saturday, according to news reports.

The Hebrew-language daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the 154 Palestinians were "illegally residing in Israel," and that some were deported to areas loosely administrated by the Palestinian Authority.

The newspaper also said that several of the detainees were first taken for questioning, and that only some were deported across the Green Line.

Twelve Israelis suspected of employing or aiding what the newspaper called illegal aliens were also arrested.

Israel has control over not only its country but also the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, which were occupied in 1967.

It maintains a three-tier system of citizenship for Palestinians. Palestinians inside Israel are considered for the most part Israeli citizens, while Palestinians residing in occupied East Jerusalem have IDs that permit them to travel inside Israel. Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip are citizens of no country, and are generally banned from entering Israel or East Jerusalem.

Israeli Jews are permitted to work and are considered full Israeli citizens wherever they reside. Hundreds of thousands of them live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Human rights report notes 200 arrests in Barta’ and 900 Palestinians in prison without family visits

01.08.09 - 12:09

PNN - Some 900 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails have been deprived of family visitation for over two years.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights report for the week of 23 through 29 July also notes this week that Israeli forces arrested 200 workers from Barta’a Village which is isolated by the Wall.

A report by the Prisoners’ Society noted today that three Palestinians have just passed 17 years in Israeli prisons while Israeli forces arrested 312 Palestinians during month of July and 3,372 since beginning of the year.

Israeli soldiers kidnapped 312 Palestinians in July

Saturday August 01, 2009 21:55 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian researcher, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, stated Saturday that Israeli soldiers kidnapped 312 Palestinians, including dozens of teens, during the month of July.

FIle - Image; news.gov.kw

Farawna added that the soldiers kidnapped 3372 Palestinians since the beginning of this year, among them dozens of women and children.

Most of the kidnapped residents are from the West Bank, while hundreds were kidnapped during the war of Gaza.

Farawna also said that the Israeli Navy kidnapped dozens of Palestinian fishermen in Palestinian territorial waters in the Gaza Strip.

Yet, the researcher stated that July witnessed the least incidents of kidnappings as in comparison to previous months.

He also said that the Israeli army kidnaps Palestinians with the aim to harm different sectors of the society, including but not limited to harming the economy, social life, educational life, in addition to harming the health and psychological conditions of the residents by placing them under extreme conditions and torturing them during interrogation.

Farawna added that there are hundreds of Palestinians who are still suffering from health and psychological issues due to abuse and torture they were subjected while imprisoned by Israel.

Report: Israel kidnapped 312 Palestinians last month

[ 01/08/2009 - 03:29 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian report said that the IOF troops kidnapped 312 Palestinian citizens during last July at a rate of 11 Palestinians everyday. The report, which was prepared by specialist in prisoners’ affairs Abdelnasser Farwana, stated that the total of Palestinians who had been kidnapped since the beginning of the year rose to 3,372 citizens, dozens of them were children and women. Farwana affirmed that Israel pursues the policy of kidnapping as a daily and temperamental tradition or as a means to take revenge, pressure or blackmail, adding that most of the kidnappings were arbitrary and not carried out for security reasons as Israel alleged. In another related context, the Israeli police admitted Saturday that it detained 154 Palestinian workers from the West Bank last week at the pretext of entering and working in the 1948 occupied lands without permits. The police said they transported the detainees to their residential areas in the West Bank after they were interrogated and signed pledges not to enter the occupied lands.

PCHR report 23/7-29/7/2009

excerpt from PCHR weekly report No. 30/2009 23 - 29 July 2009

At least 900 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been deprived for family visitation for more than two years.

In recognition of ICRC as the guardian of the Fourth Geneva Convention, PCHR calls upon the ICRC to increase its staff and activities in the OPT, including the facilitation of family visitations to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Thursday, 23 July 2009

At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Tarqoumia village, west of Hebron. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested 3 Palestinian civilians, including a child:

1. Suleiman Mohammed al-Ja'afra, 17;

2. Hassan Mahmoud al-Muraqtan, 19; and

3. Husni 'Omar al-Muraqtan, 19.

At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested Saddam 'Ali 'Awadh, 19.

Also at approximately 03:00, IOF moved into al-'Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested Anas Ahmed Hassaniya, 19.

Friday, 24 July 2009

At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Nablus and the neighboring 'Askar refugee camp. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested 'Abdul Nasser Mustafa Abu Keshek, 23.

Sunday, 26 July 2009

At approximately 12:00, IOF moved into Seilat al-Zaher village, south of Jenin. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested Ahmed Sameer Za'rour, 17.

Monday, 27 July 2009

Also at approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Dura village, southwest of Hebron. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested Fayez Isma'il Faqqoussa, 27.

At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into al-Ka'abna area in the east of Yatta village, south of Hebron. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested Mefleh Taleb Najada, 25.

Tuesday, 28 July 2009

At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into Barta'a village, west of Jenin. They raided and searched a number of houses and shops looking for Palestinian workers. They arrested at least 200 workers and took them to an unknown destination. It is worth noting that due to the restrictions imposed on access of Palestinian workers to work places inside Israel, those workers are forced to stay in places located behind the Annexation Wall to be able to travel easier to their work places inside Israel.

At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into 'Aanin village, west of Jenin. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested Ghaleb Fawaz Yassin, 22.

Also at approximately 02:00, IOF moved into al-Far'a refugee camp, south of Tubas. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested two Palestinian civilians:

1. Mohammed Basheer Abu Khaizaran, 40; and

2. Ghassan Basheer Abu Khaizaran, 50.

Also at approximately 02:00, IOF moved into 'Aanin village, west of Jenin. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested Ghaleb Fawaz Yassin, 22.

At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus. They raided a house belonging to Ibrahim Mousa Salim, 46, after blowing up the door. The house was damaged and its walls cracked. Windows of five neighboring houses were also broken. Also as a result of blowing up the door, 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child and a woman, were injured:

1. Ibrahim Mousa Salim, 46;

2. Miriam Mohammed Salim, 46, his wife;

3. Salim Ibrahim Salim, 16, his son; and

4. Hani Mohammed Khalifa, 20.

During the house raid, IOF troops treated the residents inhumanly. They handcuffed male residents and detained them in rooms. No arrests were reported, and IOF troops left the house without asking about anyone.

Wednesday, 29 July 2009

At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into 'Allar village, north of Tulkarm. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested two Palestinian civilians:

1. 'Izzat Makkawi Shadid, 29; and

2. Mohammed Makkawi Shadid, 26.