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Photos:
Palestinians watch the Israeli military arrive at the family home of the person who carried out the attack in the settlement of Har Adar. Photo by Ammar Awad, Reuters. Published by B'Tselem Sept 28, 2017

Scene. Published by Maan News, Oct 2, 2017
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by B'tselem, Sept 28, 2017

On Tuesday, 26 September, Nimer Mahmoud Jamal, 37, from Beit Surik carried out an attack in the settlement of Har Adar, killing a Border Police officer and two settlement security guards: Sgt. Solomon Gavryia, 20, Yusef Othman, 25 and Or Arish, 25. Border Police officers and the settlement security coordinator – who himself had been moderately hurt during the incident according to the police – shot and killed Jamal. Immediately following the attack, the military implemented punitive measures against the residents of nine villages in the area of Beit Surik, northwest of Jerusalem, totaling about 40,000 people. The military’s actions included raids on villages and homes, damaging property in some cases, scores of arrests, as well as movement restrictions.

In Beit Surik itself, the military sealed off all entries and exits. Soldiers took over seven rooftops in the village, having turned the residents out, and raided many other homes, conducting searches, leaving havoc behind in some cases. Soldiers also carried out patrols in the village, which attracted stone throwing on the part of local residents. The soldiers responded with live bullets, rubber-coated metal bullets and gas grenades. These incidents led to the schools shutting down. In addition, five demolition orders and 15 stop-work orders were issued, all under the pretext of “illegal construction”, and soldiers confiscated some thirty cars.

Soldiers also raided the village of Bidu, and there too, clashes including stone-throwing erupted, with the soldiers responding with rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas and stun grenades. School was canceled in Bidu as well as a result of these incidents. Soldiers took over eight rooftops in the village, having turned out the residents, and confiscated 25 vehicles. Yesterday in the early afternoon, the military set up a manned roadblock near the village, with soldiers denying passage to anyone under forty, and anyone who is not a resident of the village.

A similar roadblock was set up near the entrance to Beit ‘Anan, and other side roads, used by the residents when the main entrances are blocked, were also blocked with dirt mounds.

On the day of the attack, and the day after (yesterday), forces arrived at Jamal’s home, interrogated family members, and arrested his two brothers. They also surveyed the house in preparation for demolition, and revoked all family members’ permits to enter Israel for work.

Disrupting the lives of tens of thousands of people, who have done nothing wrong and are not suspected of any wronging in such a severe manner is completely unjustifiable. This violence against the population is an exploitation of the military’s power and authority in aid of wanton abuse of civilians without any accountability.
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'Collective punishment' enacted on West Bank Palestinians for 6th day running

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- Oct 2, 2017

Israeli forces imposed a general closure on a cluster of villages in the central occupied West Bank northwest of Jerusalem for the sixth consecutive day on Sunday, in what Israeli human rights group B’Tselem denounced as an act of “collective punishment” on tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians.

Locals have been largely trapped inside the villages as a result of military roadblocks and strict security checks, since Sept. 26, when 37-year-old Nimr Jamal from Beit Surik carried out a shooting attack outside of the adjacent illegal Har Adar settlement, leaving an Israeli border police officer and two Israeli security guards killed.

The Israeli army said only “humanitarian cases” would be allowed passage in and out of Beit Surik, Biddu, and up to nine other neighboring localities.

On Sunday, locals told Ma’an that the area had been turned into an “open-air prison,” and “threatened to trigger a humanitarian catastrophe” as the entry of food supplies to these villages has been impeded.

B’Tselem emphasized that the Israeli military sealed off all entries and exits in Beit Surik itself, where soldiers have also taken over seven rooftops, kicking residents out. In Biddu, Israeli forces took over eight rooftops having turned out the residents. Several other homes have been raided and in some cases property has been destroyed.

Raids in Beit Surik and Bidda have sparked clashes, with Israeli forces violently suppressing protesters with live bullets, rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas, forcing schools in both villages to shut down, according to B’Tselem.

The siege has also caused severe gridlock in the area, as long lines of cars pile up behind checkpoints and crowd through detour routes.

At at least one roadblock near Biddu and another at the entrance to Beit Anan, Israeli soldiers started denying passage to anyone under 40 years old, and anyone who is not a resident.

Israeli forces have taken measurements of Jamal’s family’s house in preparation to punitively demolish it, interrogated and detained several members of his family including two of his brothers, and revoked revoked all of his family members’ permits to enter Israel for work.

According to B’Tselem, five demolition orders and 15 stop-work orders have also been issued in Beit Surik, all under the pretext of “illegal construction," and where some 30 cars have also been confiscated. In Biddu, 25 cars have been confiscated.

B’Tselem estimated that some 40,000 Palestinians were being collectively punished as a result of the ongoing security measures.

“Disrupting the lives of tens of thousands of people, who have done nothing wrong and are not suspected of any wronging in such a severe manner is completely unjustifiable. This violence against the population is an exploitation of the military’s power and authority in aid of wanton abuse of civilians without any accountability,” “B’Tselem said.