Demonstrators in Beit Jala prevented from accessing family's home

Twelve people, representing six different nationalities, sat in front of the Caterpillar bulldozer as it moved up to the garden. Soldiers forcefully removed all twelve, several of whom sustained minor injuries, and one of whom was hospitalised with suspected broken ribs after his stomach was repeatedly stamped upon by one of the soldiers.

After soldiers forced everyone but the owners of the garden up to the road above, they joined approximately 50 other internationals and local residents to hold a demonstration which lasted into the evening. Overlooking the wreckage of the morning’s destruction, the protesters chanted and sang, asking only to be allowed back down to the house, where bulldozing had finished, to speak with the family there. Late in the afternoon, six activists, from the USA, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, managed to access the house via a back route, bringing food in to the family, before being arrested by Israeli Border Police, accused of illegally entering a Closed Military Zone.

In Al Walaja, Israeli military prevented any internationals or journalists from accessing the area to observe the uprooting of approximately 40 olive trees.

The International Court of Justice has ruled that the building of Israel’s apartheid wall is in violation of international law. When complete, the wall will run for over 700km, the vast majority of it passing through and effectively annexing Palestinian land in the West Bank.