West Bank Archives - CrossFireArarbia

Israel Continues to Target Children – UN Report

CrossFireArabia
June 23, 2026

Israel continues to commit genocide and other atrocity crimes by deliberately targeting Palestinian children, a UN report said on Tuesday.

“Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank,” read the report published by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.

The commission said it had concluded last year that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and found that the intense scale and systematic nature of the Israeli military operations have continued, causing unprecedented death, injury and trauma among Palestinian children.

“The deliberate targeting of children is one of the key elements establishing genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza,” the commission said.

“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the commission.

“Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law,” he added.

“Palestinian children have been arrested and subjected to torture and other severe forms of mistreatment in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, with no information on their whereabouts,” the commission said.

“Israeli security forces have also used sexual violence against children as part of the collective shaming and oppression, entrenched within a prolonged, ethnic, gendered, and intergenerational pattern of Israeli occupation and hostilities,” it added.

The report said Israel’s targeting of neonatal and maternity care centers in Gaza directly harmed the survival of newborns and Palestinians’ reproductive future, including increases in miscarriages, birth defects and lasting vulnerabilities among newborns.

“Starvation imposed by Israel through blockade and siege have further caused the death of Palestinian children and severely impacted the health of many others, depriving them of essential nutrition and increasing disease risks amid reduced immunization, food insecurity and destroyed health services,” it also said.

“Even if the bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and West Bank, Palestinian children will not simply recover overnight,” Muralidhar said. “The destruction of their health, education and development is irreversible.”

“The protection, care and survival of Palestinian children are inseparable from the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” Muralidhar said. “By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future.”

The commission said it had identified Israeli military units responsible for killing and injuring Palestinian children and made recommendations to Israel and UN member states to ensure accountability.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israeli attacks have killed 1,021 Palestinians and injured 3,249 others since late 2025 in daily violations of the ceasefire in effect.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023 has killed 73,032 people, injured over 173,300 and caused massive destruction to about 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure, with the United Nations estimating reconstruction costs at about $70 billion.

Since October 2023, West Bank cities and towns have seen near-daily Israeli raids, including arrests and home searches. The escalation by the Israeli army and occupiers has killed 1,173 Palestinians, wounded 12,666, led to the arrest of about 23,000 and displaced 33,000, according to official Palestinian figures. Anadolu

News

Israel Soldiers Shoot, Kill Baby in Hebron

marwan
June 6, 2026

A 7-month-old Palestinian infant was killed Friday and his parents wounded when the Israeli army shot at the family’s car in the Tel Rumeida area in the southern occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

It said the Israeli army killed Sam Abu Haikal and that his father, Fahd Abdul Aziz Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, lived with his wife and son in Bethlehem.

The shooting took place while Abu Haikal was on his way to his mother’s house in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood in central Hebron.

Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition, wounding the father in his hand. His wife was also wounded by the same bullet, which pierced the jaw of their infant son. All three were taken to the hospital.

The occupied West Bank has witnessed escalating Israeli military raids, arrests and settlement expansion since the start of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023 according to Anadolu.

Opinion

Memorizing The 1967 War Defeat!

Dr Khairi Janbek
June 5, 2026

By Dr Khairi Janbek

What can one say about the defeat of 1967 war, more than what the experts, the memoirs, and the active participants in it have said and written already, save from the eyes and ears of a child; for after all one was a child at the time and one must admit that growing up with defeat did have profound effect on one’s developing personality.

As it happened, in fact we were on a family holiday driving to Turkey when we heard the first actions in the war. By the time we crossed Damascus towards the north, the car radio was blasting with the advances made by the Arab armies on the path towards liberating Palestine.

However, by the time we reached an area close to the Syrian-Turkish border somewhere near Jabla in Syria, we discovered the the border was closed on the Syrian side and people including my late father were stuck around the big radio in the small roadside hotel talking about the destruction of the Israeli military forces, and the remarks that in a couple of days, Israel will cease to exist,

But low and behold, after a few days and by the time the border was opened, Egypt had lost Sinai, Syria, the Golan Heights, and Jordan the West Bank and Jerusalem; the jewel in the crown.

The car was tense, and for the first time I was disappointed, not because of the news of defeat rather, rather because I was no longer the centre of attraction for the family. As we entered Iskenderun in Turkey, a couple of young men crossing the streets, seeing our car number plate in Arabic, spat on the ground and said in Turkish; Pis Arap, meaning dirty Arab.

I didn’t undrestand Turkish at the time, until my father smiled bitterly and said, so we have just become dirty Arabs. In the small hotel in Iskenderun owned by a generous Armenian family, they brought us their transistor which could catch Syrian broadcasts and heard my father saying Nasser has resigned, and I was wondering how could he do that. For me, Nasser’s image was a cross between a king and an idol football player.

By the time we reached Ankara, it was all over. We were nothing in the eyes of the Turks at the time, but lying impotent Arabs. As the years passed, maturity set in as a strong slap in the face, with my childhood’s main scar left inside me, engulfing me with doubt, and disbelief, not only regarding what I now hear but also in what I see: with Arab politics to me, becoming just a mixture of cynicism, blatant lies, and regimes self-preservation.

The disaster from top to bottom was, unqualified military officers in Egypt, only accustomed to internal security and privileges were punching above their weight and carrying ranks which were above their undrestanding of warfare. Their ignorance was stark obvious when they knew about the attack and opted for absorbing the first blow before counter-attacking, not knowing they’ll have nothing left to counter with.

Jordan was squeezed between the hammer and the anvil diplomatically, though there were voices among the statesmen at the time urging not to participate in the impending whilst recognizing the perils, yet the decision to participate in the war and opening the Jordanian couldn’t be avoided because first of all the belief in Nasser’s victory held sway among the people, and secondly, to imagine an Arab defeat would not spare Jordan who will be blamed for this defeat due to the lack of giving support in the war.

In the case of Syria, how could an army in which the first officer who wakes up before the others and carries out a coup d’état, fight a war; and how could an army in which a general has to walk behind the coup d’état lower ranks whom are only concerned about preserving their own hold on power, conduct warfare? In fact the fall of the Golan Heights was declared by the Syria representative in the UN, 36 hours before it actually fell. And why was this? All in aid for withdrawing the army to protect Damascus.

Has anything changed? Everything has changed so that nothing changes!

Dr Janbek is a Jordanian writer based in Paris, France

Uncategorized

Israeli Soldiers: ‘…We Had to Kill Arabs’

CrossFireArabia
June 5, 2026

Newly disclosed testimonies by Israeli soldiers and archival documents published by Israeli newspaper Haaretz have shed new light on the displacement of Palestinians and Syrians during and after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, with accounts describing killings, expulsions, destruction of villages and widespread looting.

The investigation, published ahead of the 59th anniversary of the war and authored by Adam Raz, a researcher at the Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research, is based on previously unpublished soldiers’ testimonies, military records, government correspondence and archival material.

According to the report, approximately 300,000 Arabs were expelled or displaced from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights during and after the June 1967 war.

Haaretz said many of the testimonies originated from discussions held among Israeli soldiers in kibbutzim, Israel’s collective farming communities, shortly after the war. While some excerpts later appeared in the influential 1967 book, The Seventh Day: Soldiers Talk about the Six-Day War, numerous accounts describing alleged war crimes remained unpublished for decades.

Several testimonies cited by the newspaper describe killings of prisoners, civilians and refugees. One soldier was quoted as saying: “At first I wasn’t willing to execute Arabs who weren’t resisting. Then we came to the conclusion that we had to kill.”

Another soldier described operations in Gaza after the war, saying: “Human lives didn’t matter. You could kill, there was no law. No one would say a word to you.”

A third testimony referred to what the soldier described as “punitive expeditions” in Gaza’s refugee camps. “We caught guys, lined them up and eliminated them. In retrospect, it looks like murder,” he said.

Shoot-at-sight orders for West Bank returnees

The report also cites testimonies and archival documents alleging that Israeli forces were ordered to prevent Palestinians who had fled across the Jordan River from returning to the West Bank after the fighting ended.

According to Haaretz, soldiers received instructions to shoot people attempting to cross back into the territory.

The newspaper cited testimony later published by former Israeli lawmaker Uri Avnery, who quoted a soldier as saying troops had received orders to “shoot, to kill, without prior warning.”

Another soldier recalled questioning whether such orders applied even if families with children were crossing the river. According to the testimony, he asked: “If I hear babies crying, should I shoot then too?” and was told: “Don’t be a girl.”

Haaretz said military records indicated that by early September 1967, nearly 150 Palestinians had been killed while attempting to return from Jordan. The newspaper also cited statements by senior Israeli military officials acknowledging the existence of orders aimed at preventing refugee returns.

According to the investigation, displacement during the war was not solely the result of battlefield conditions. The report cites government discussions and military documents suggesting that senior Israeli political and military leaders viewed the departure of Arab residents as desirable and, in some cases, encouraged or facilitated it.

Among the most prominent examples highlighted by the report was the expulsion of residents from the Latrun villages of Imwas, Yalo and Beit Nuba west of Jerusalem. The villages were captured during the war and their approximately 8,000 residents were ordered to leave, according to the investigation.

Haaretz reported that the villages were subsequently demolished and their inhabitants prevented from returning. The area later became the site of Canada Park.

‘Population transfer’

The newspaper also cited testimony from Ishai Amrami, a deputy battalion commander during the war, who later described what he witnessed as “an attempt at massive population transfer.”

The investigation further details events in Qalqilya and other communities near the Green Line, where residents were allegedly encouraged or forced to leave through military pressure, loudspeaker announcements, transportation arrangements and destruction of homes.

According to the report, tens of thousands of Palestinians also fled or were displaced from refugee camps in the Jericho area and elsewhere in the West Bank. Many carried memories of the 1948 Nakba and feared another permanent displacement.

The report revisits events in Gaza as well, where soldiers described raids, arrests and killings in refugee camps after the war. One soldier was quoted as saying: “We would roam through refugee camps in Gaza and carry out purges.”

Another testimony stated: “Every man we saw was a combatant,” while acknowledging that civilians may also have been among those killed.

Beyond the Palestinian territories, Haaretz reported that approximately 120,000 Syrians left or were expelled from the Golan Heights after Israeli forces captured the territory from Syria.

The newspaper cited military documents and testimonies indicating that villages in the Golan Heights were later demolished to prevent residents from returning. According to the report, Israeli commander Elad Peled later described a decision to bring in bulldozers and destroy villages “so there would be nowhere to return.”

Haaretz also cited reports submitted by Syria to the United Nations and records from the International Committee of the Red Cross alleging intimidation, forced displacement, looting and destruction of civilian property in the occupied territory.

Israel warned of legal repercussions

The investigation further describes what it says was widespread looting in areas captured during the war. According to the report, soldiers, civilians and local authorities participated in the removal of property from Palestinian and Syrian homes, schools, businesses and public institutions.

Among the documents cited is a previously unpublished 1967 letter by Theodor Meron, then legal adviser to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. According to Haaretz, Meron warned that expulsions of civilians constituted “a serious violation of the Geneva Convention” and could create diplomatic complications for Israel.

The report says Israeli officials were aware of legal concerns surrounding the expulsions but nevertheless approved measures aimed at preventing displaced populations from returning and consolidating control over newly occupied territories.

The Six-Day War began on June 5, 1967, and ended with Israel capturing the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. While Israel later returned Sinai to Egypt under the 1979 peace treaty, it continues to occupy the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

For Palestinians, the conflict is remembered as the Naksa, or setback, which triggered a new wave of displacement nearly two decades after the 1948 Nakba and remains a defining event in collective Palestinian memory. Anadolu

News

Punishing The Olive Tree

CrossFireArabia
May 25, 2026

By Dr Marwan Asmar

Israel’s government, soldiers and settlers destroyed between 13,000 and 14000 olive trees in the occupied West Bank in the first five months of 2026. The figures are based on different Palestinian and Israeli sources.

In May 2026 alone Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he had ordered the uprooting and destruction of 3000 trees in northern Palestine. The uprooting of these trees were ordered to be felled in a single day.

In early February, 2006 human rights’ groups reported that over 8000 trees were destroyed and a report by the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Commission (PWSC) released last Mid-May showed that 4,414 had been uprooted, destroyed and/or poisoned.

The uprooting of “Palestinian trees” by Israeli settlers backed by the Zionist army has become a normal state of affairs as it has increased viciously since October 2023 when over 37,200 olive trees were “uprooted”, “broken” and “burned” in conjunction with the Israeli war and slaughter of Gaza.

The situation spelled disaster for Palestinian farmers. In cahoots with Israeli soldiers, settlers would go down on Palestinian villages and towns and start uprooting olive trees out of sheer vandalism.

At the end of last April, this is exactly what happened when settlers from the “Adi Ad” settlement descended on the Turmus Aya village that lies to the north-east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and started to destroy and vandalize 400 olive trees.

As they did this, on Saturday night, they were guarded by the Israeli army. This attack came days after the settlers descended on the village and set fire to a house and a car there.

The attack on Turmus Aya is not an isolated incident. The village has been targeted for the past few years. The PWSC, a monitoring organization of such attacks said the Israeli army had been responsible for 1,322 of such attacks while the settlers involved for 497 acts of vandalism on different Palestinian cities with Hebron topping the list at (321), Nablus (315), Ramallah (292) and Jerusalem (203).

Statistics point out that Israel has destroyed between 800,000 and 1 million olive trees in the occupied Palestinian territories from 1967 till now. However, since that year, when Israel effectively occupied all of the Palestinian territories, it destroyed 2.5 million trees.

Besides olives, they included orange (different varieties), lemon, grapefruit and clementine trees. The Palestinian territories are known for their varieties like almond, figs, apricots, peaches and plums trees.

These trees were destroyed by the Israeli occupation for basic military takeover to expand the Palestinian lands with Israeli settlements – about 147 settlements and 224 outposts – and create the required infrastructure and roads for these since some of them resemble big cities.

In the case of the Smotrich announcement for example, and the uprooting of 3000 trees on Palestinian lands in the north West Bank, the purpose there was to expand the Israeli Shaked Industrial Park which is next to the settlement there that has the same name.

Gaza, another story

Gaza is another sad story for the Israeli genocide has affected the whole of the agricultural sector. During the last war on the Gaza Strip, Israel destroyed 1 million trees according to Fayyad Fayyad, head of the Palestinian Olive Council. The destruction literally decimated the agriculture sector of the enclave.

Prior to 7 October, 2023, Gaza had 1.1 million trees roughly producing 50,000 tons of olives every year but no more. About 98 percent of Gaza’s tree cropland has been destroyed.

Dr Mazen Qumsiyeh, a biologist at Bethlehem University, calls the destruction in Gaza an “ecocide” as statistics show that over the past two years and more, Israel has destroyed between 500,000 to 700,000 non-olive trees.

Today in Gaza everything has been razed to the ground. There had once been 35 olive oil presses in the Strip but most of these have been destroyed with only five left as of the end of last year.

The loss of a million olive trees is a $50-million-plus-loss since the total olive oil sector (West Bank and Gaza) contributed between $160 and $190 million to the Palestinian national economy as a direct result of exports to regional and international markets.

The olive oil sector accounts for roughly five percent of the Palestinian GDP and 20 percent of the agricultural sector. Further olive oil production sustains 100,000 families in the Palestinian territories.

Marwan Asmar is a writer from Amman and blogs for crossfirearabia.com