army violence

Abdullah Rawajbeh seen in An-Najah Hospital, Nablus, West Bank. (Courtesy)

Palestinian loses eye after police stun grenade explodes in his face

Abdullah Rawajbeh was smoking a cigarette when a Border Police officer threw a grenade at his face. Doctors had no choice but to remove his eye.

By Basel Adra January 9, 2023

Basel Basbous in hospital. (Basil Adra)

“He asked me how many children I have. Then he said: ‘Now you have one less.'”

After shooting three Palestinians, two fatally, the Israeli army misled their mothers about which of their sons was dead, and refuses to return the bodies.

By Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham November 8, 2022

Israeli soldiers pummel and beat +972 and Local Call journalist Basil al-Adraa in his home village of A-Tuwani. (Sami Hureini)

WATCH: Soldiers assault +972 writer Basil al-Adraa

Al-Adraa, who regularly reports on army and settler violence, was beaten while documenting Israeli soldiers near his West Bank village.

By Oren Ziv and Yuval Abraham May 8, 2022

Latest

Amar Shafiq Abu Afifa. (Courtesy of the Abu Afifa family)

‘We were like brothers’: Refugee camp reels after army shoots Palestinian on hike

Amar Shafiq Abu Afifa was out strolling when Israeli soldiers gave chase and shot him in the head, adding to a grim toll suffered by al-Arroub refugee camp.

By Yuval Abraham March 10, 2022

Religious soldiers attend a swearing-in ceremony as they enter the Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion of the Israeli army, May 31, 2012. (Noam Moskowitz/FLASH90)

The unexceptional violence of Israel’s ‘Haredi battalion’

After the killing of a Palestinian elder, the Netzah Yehuda army unit is again in the spotlight. But the violent system it is part of still escapes scrutiny.

By Natasha Soffer-Roth February 28, 2022

Soldiers from the Kfir Brigade at an IDF swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall, Jerusalem, December 24, 2015. (Israel Defense Forces/CC BY-NC 2.0)

A most moral violence

A new collection of essays explores how the Israeli army justifies its violence against Palestinians — and why Israeli society so readily accepts its abuses.

By Noam Sheizaf December 29, 2021

A bloodied Palestinian protester is seen at a protest in the eastern Gaza Strip that left six Palestinians dead and over 130 injured when IDF troops opened fire over the border, Gaza Strip, 9 October, 2015. (Ezz Za'noun)

How Israel is predetermining a violent outcome for Gaza return march

Security officials have launched a public campaign painting the ‘Great Return March’ as a violent, Hamas-sponsored event. Israel has never needed excuses to violently suppress Palestinian protests, which makes this a priori justification of violence all the more worrying. Israel’s senior-most defense policy official once famously told American diplomats that “we don’t do Gandhi very…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man March 29, 2018

A man inspects Qurans damaged in a suspected arson hate crime against a mosque in the West Bank village of Al Mughayir, November 12, 2014. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Who’s afraid of Israeli hate crimes?

What the government calls ‘nationalist crimes’ are not random acts of violence—they have a clear goal: dispossessing Palestinians of their land. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz From time to time, this country is shaken by a particularly severe wave of nationalistically-motivated hate crimes against Palestinians, often in the form of arson or desecration of a religious…

By +972 Magazine June 28, 2015

Soldiers assault journalists during clashes at Jalazone refugee camp in the West Bank. (photo by ISM)

WATCH: Soldiers attack Palestinian journalists in West Bank refugee camp

Soldiers push, throw stun grenades and point their guns at Palestinian journalists reporting on clashes in Jalazone refugee camp. A video published last weekend showed a group of soldiers from the Kfir Brigade assaulting a Palestinian man in Jalazone refugee camp, throwing him on the ground while kicking and beating him with their guns. Four…

By Haggai Matar June 18, 2015

Israeli soldiers take away two Palestinians they’ve arrested, one of them while unconscious, Qaryut, West Bank, March 15, 2015. (photo: Activestills.org)

Army arrests unconscious activist at Corrie commemoration

During an olive planting action to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the death of American activist Rachel Corrie, Israeli forces arrest two Palestinians–one of them while unconscious. Text and photos by: Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org Marking 12 years since the death of Rachel Corrie, activists planted 40 olive trees in the threatened lands of the West Bank…

By Activestills March 16, 2015

An Israeli soldier escorts a group of settlers during a tour of Hebron’s old city, February 20, 2010. (Photo by Activestills.org)

How does the army please settlers? By upping its violence

When the settlers of Halamish complained that the IDF isn’t being violent enough, a brigadier-general assured them that he orders his troops to use unnecessary force against Palestinians. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz Near the Palestinian villages of Dir Nizam and Nabi Salah lies a settlement named Halamish, also known as Neve Tsuf.…

By +972 Magazine February 20, 2015

IDF soldier punching Issa Amro in Hebron (photo: Awni Abu Shamsieh)

PHOTO: Soldier punches Palestinian activist in the face

Israeli soldiers have been harassing Palestinian activist Issa Amro since he released a video of a soldier cocking his weapon at two youths. ‘They know I am a moving camera,’ he says. Palestinian non-violent activist Issa Amro is seen in the following photo, taken on May 28, being punched by an IDF soldier (the soldier’s identity…

By Mairav Zonszein June 8, 2014

Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian youth, who shows signs of being beaten, following a demonstration in the West Bank city of Hebron, March 1, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Whose hands are really tied in the West Bank?

Text and photos by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org Just about every article covering the social media meme supporting the Israeli soldier caught on video cocking and aiming his gun at Palestinian youths in Hebron includes a line something like, “soldiers are tired of having their hands tied” when dealing with Palestinians. To help relieve any confusion,…

By Activestills May 3, 2014