International human rights monitor arrested during destruction of Palestinian home.

Today, on November 22nd, 2023 early in the morning, Israeli occupation forces bulldozed a family home in Sha’ab Al-Butum in the Yatta region of the occupied West Bank which has seen soaring levels of extremist settler and IOF violence against Palestinians and human rights defenders.

As international human rights monitors were present to document the destruction of the residence, which, according to OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) is one of 916 structures demolished in 2023 up to Nov 21 with 1,555 people displaced, occupation authorities arrested a peaceful Belgian/British foreign national and currently have her detained in a central police station.

The volunteer, who was standing peacefully at the site of the demolition, is being held on outrageous allegations of “terrorism conspiracy” and “aggression against a soldier”.

Since October 7th, human rights defenders monitoring this campaign of escalating violence and terror against occupied Palestinians in the West Bank have been groped, verbally assaulted, held at gunpoint, had their phones smashed and confiscated, and the passwords to their devices demanded by occupation forces along with their proxies, the extremist ideological settlers working to ethnically cleanse the area in the South Hebron Hills.

Documenting the atrocities occurring in the occupied West Bank has included reporting on the ethnic cleansing of 15 Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. The Palestinian families in these villages are enduring violent raids, the smashing of their vehicles, the destruction of their farming equipment, the slashing of their water tanks, invasion of their homes and threats that if they do not abandon their homes and villages to the settlers,they would all be murdered within 24 hours.

Press contact:

Email: palreports@gmail.com

Phone: +972527551971

International Solidarity Movement (ISM) https://palsolidarity.org/ - palreports@gmail.com +972 59-740-6401