At dawn, 2 AM of Friday January 8, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have arrested Palestinian farmer Khaled Daraghmeh (Abu Jamal). Tens of armed Israeli soldiers raided the house of Abu Jamal located in the village of al-Luban al-Sharqiya, south of Nablus.
The Israeli soldiers aggressively attacked Abu Jamal’s wife while she was trying to stop them from detaining her sick husband; and refused to explain to him and his family the reason of the arbitrary detention. Until this moment, the Israeli occupation authorities refuse to give Abu Jamal’s lawyer any details about the arrest. They haven’t released any information about his whereabouts and the prison in which he is being interrogated.
Risks for Abu Jamal in prison
Abu Jamal’s wife is concerned about the critical health conditions of Abu Jamal. He suffers from stomach ulcer and asthma and was in hospital last week due to a deterioration in his health condition.
She is also worried that Abu Jamal might catch the COVID-19 pandemic. Palestinian political prisoners are the most vulnerable group among Palestinians to be infected with the virus because Israel does not privde them with the necessary healthcare and keeps them in overcrowded prisons. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, about 140 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been infected with the virus; receiving no adequate medical treatment.1
Israel has kicked off with a nation-wide vaccination campaign. Yet, Israel’s Public Security Minister ordered the Prison Service to exclude Palestinian prisoners from inoculation.2
We are further concerned that Israeli authorities may transfer Abu Jamal outside the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This is a common policy of the Israeli occupation authorities and in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949). 3
Israel has detained Abu Jamal, a man who peacefully lives on his land, simply to put further pressure on him and to expel him from his lands. This is a further violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the UN Apartheid Convention (1973), Article II.4
17 years of direct aggression
On November 4th, 2020, tens of Israeli soldiers and 11 white cars belonging to the Israeli Civil Administration raided the house of Darghmeh and demolished a building he built next to his house for his son. They also destroyed the furniture, windows and doors of his house. His house is an old Ottoman Khan, which he has inherited from his forefathers. Armed Israeli soldiers brutally beat Abu Jamal, broke his hand and handcuffed him for hours before the demolition started.
The Israeli occupation authorities seek to confiscate Abu Jamal’s Khan and the surrounding large swathes of lands in order to expand the illegal settlement of Ma’lee Lubona built on al-Luban al-Sharqiyya’s lands.
Fanatic Israeli settlers from the neighboring illegal settlements violently attack Abu Jamal and his family on a regular basis while the Israeli army protects them. The demolition of Abu Jamal’s property, the constant aggression of illegal settlers since more than 17 years, and the current detention of Abu Jamal are part of the attempts by the Israeli occupation authorities to forcibly displace Abu Jamal and his family from their land.
1 https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/122522
2 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-orders-jails-not-vaccinate-palestinian-security-prisoners
3 https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/ihl/385ec082b509e76c41256739003e636d/6756482d86146898c125641e004aa3c5#:~:text=The%20Occupying%20Power%20shall%20not,into%20the%20territory%20it%20occupies.
4 https://stopthewall.org/resources/occupation-apartheid-and-colonialism-palestine-basic-guide/
