Settler Violence has always been an integral part of the occupation, but has seen a drastic spike in recent months. We’re at the Knesset (parliament) today to demand it be dealt with.
Follow us here for a peek into the proceedings >>>
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin Kahanist MK Ben Gvir, a settler himself goes off. @mossi_raz: No need to bring in data, settler violence is in this very room.
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin@mossi_raz MK @IbtisamMaraana: There is no Jewish terrorism or Islamic terrorism or Palestinian terrorism. There is simply terrorism, and it must be stopped before it is too late.
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin@mossi_raz@IbtisamMaraana@shachar_keren: We have gathered today to hear testimonies from Israelis and Palestinians who have experienced violence first-hand, listen to long-time activists, hear data from civil society orgs, a discharged soldier, and of course MKs who deal with this issue every day.
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin@mossi_raz@IbtisamMaraana@shachar_keren MK @mossi_raz: I want to share in the grief of the family of Eli Kay who was murdered yesterday. I want to say that violence should always be condemned, especially when it is against civilians, though those who condemned yesterday's violence did not mention settler violence.
@peacenowisrael@YeshDin@mossi_raz@IbtisamMaraana@shachar_keren MK @mossi_raz: This is not a phenomenon of soldiers standing by, but the whole army standing by. The police stand by. The press stands by - in fact, this issue goes almost unreported. Violence is everywhere, in every society, and we regret to see this institutional cooperation.
Ever since the ceasefire started on Sunday, this government, through the IDF and its allies in the settlements, has been doing everything in its power to make sure Israel doesn’t reach the 2nd phase of the deal. Suddenly, Trump says he’s “not confident” the ceasefire will hold 🧵
Netanyahu said last week that Trump and Biden both gave “full backing to Israel’s right to return to fighting if Israel concludes that the negotiations on the 2nd phase are going nowhere.” Yesterday, the IDF began a massive operation in Jenin. They know this jeopardizes the deal.
Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has been serving as the de-facto Governor of the West Bank, said that the operation in Jenin was started as part of a new “goal” for the war, which was added at his party’s request - “changing the perception of security” in the West Bank.
The past few days since the ceasefire announcement have seen a depressingly predictable amount of IDF strikes in Gaza. 8 Gazans were killed today, before it went into effect. Why predictable? Well, read these soldier testimonies from before the Israel-Gaza ceasefire of 2014 🧵
"Before the first ceasefire they told us we were going in [to Gaza] to take down a house [...] they said, ‘We want to make a big boom before the ceasefire.’ Like that, those were the words the officer used, and it made everyone mad."
"After we left I heard a boom. I looked back and I saw an air bombardment, and they told us, ‘Yeah, there’s going to be a ceasefire, so we want to have ‘the final word’ before we leave [..] the only thing left standing was one wobbly house"
Infantry | 2014 breakingthesilence.org.il/testimonies/da…
Yesterday we were all finally allowed a moment to breathe. After over a year, a ceasefire and hostage deal has been signed. People who have been through hell can finally begin a long process of healing and rebuilding. This was always the only solution, but it’s a fragile one 🧵
The deal that was eventually signed is almost identical to one proposed by the US nearly 8 months ago. One of the deal’s appendices even calls it "The May 27th Agreement." But it's not really the same deal. Countless innocents have been killed since May. That includes hostages.
Still, better late than never. Displaced Gazans need to rebuild their lives, hostages need to go home to their families. Everyone needs time to repair some of what has been broken. A lot of people want this deal to fail, and it's on all of us to make sure that doesn't happen.
Is the IDF fighting efficiently in Gaza? If you only measure the number of targets bombed - absolutely. But looking at any other measure reveals the IDF’s target bank to be unreliable, strategically flawed and as such, deeply immoral.
A quick look at the IDF’s target bank 🧵
Last month soldiers told @yanivkub that the IDF’s “target bank” isn’t being updated regularly. "An active building will always remain an active building, even if the terrorist there was killed 6 months ago," one officer said. A senior officer confirmed his comments, explaining >>
"There were targets that suddenly came back to life," regarding militants who returned to buildings after they were hit. "So if someone decides to go into a building in search of a hiding place, the building will be struck." Some militants returned, so targets now remain active.
Without the hostages' permission, the Israeli govt publicly released the report it had submitted to the UN detailing the hostages' abuse in Hamas captivity. A week later, it blocked the UN investigation. The victims’ wounds, forcibly reopened for propaganda, but not for justice🧵
After a year of demanding the UN work to condemn and investigate the issue more quickly, suddenly the govt has gone quiet. Foreign Minister Katz once demanded Hamas be added to the sexual violence blacklist, now Israel could be added to it instead, for blocking the investigation.
This govt exploited the victims’ pain as long as it benefitted them, then threw them under the bus the moment that “believing victims” stopped aligning with their “forces of light vs. forces of darkness” narrative. They don’t want the truth if it conflicts with their coverups.
On Monday, the IDF admitted that it used a vehicle disguised as a civilian ambulance to transport soldiers during a raid on the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank, last month.
And so - a quick thread on military exploitation of civilian infrastructure🧵
As the IDF knows well, medical transport vehicles lose their protected status under international law if they’re used for the purpose of attacking an enemy
And this isn’t even the first time the IDF has concealed attacking soldiers in an ambulance. Here’s a testimony from 2002 >
"There was a commando unit that came from a distance. They came in armored ambulances with Stars of David on the side and back. [...] I was surprised that an ambulance is used for concealing combat soldiers for an attack, for there are rules about using medical symbols."