Human rights defender Hafez Huraini released from Israeli prison while investigation continues
Hafez Huraini appeared before an Israeli military court on 15 September 2022. The human rights defender is falsely accused of attempted murder, harming the security of the area and severe assault. The court has ruled to extend his detention for another 5 days, and his next trial appearance is scheduled on 19 September 2022 at 1:00 PM. On 12 September 2022, Israeli forces arrested human rights defender Hafez Huraini from his land in at-Tuwani village, Masafer Yatta, Hebron. His detention occurred after a group of armed Israeli settlers attacked him, resulting in severe injuries and breaking both of his arms. On 15 September 2022, Hafez Huraini appeared before an Israeli military court where his detention was extended for another 5 days.
Hafez Huraini is a Palestinian farmer and human rights defender from at-Tuwani village, Masafer Yatta, Hebron, Occupied Palestinian Territory. Hafez Huraini is a land rights defender and a leader of the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee, a non-violent resistance group since 2000. Hafez Huraini has been repeatedly assaulted by settlers and arrested by Israeli authorities while working on his land in at-Tuwani village. He is also the father of Sami and Sameeha Huraini, Palestinian human rights defenders and co-founders of Youth of Sumud in the South Hebron Hills region of Palestine. Sami and Sameeha Huraini were the award winners from the Middle East and North Africa of the 2021 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk.
On 22 September 2022, human rights defender Hafez Huraini was released from Israeli prison after spending 10 days in detention pending investigation. He has been temporarily released on bail, a third-party guarantee, and on the condition of staying away from his own land, where he was attacked, and from the nearby settlement outpost, for 30 days.
Hafez Huraini has been temporarily released with a bail of 10,000 Shekels (approximately 2,963 EUR) and a third-party guarantee of 5,000 shekels (approximately 1,481 EUR). The court has also set a condition for his release the requirement to stay away from his land - where he was attacked - as well as from the nearby Havat Mao settlement outpost, for 30 days.
On 22 September 2022, the Ofer military court decided to release the human rights defender Hafez Huraini. The court said that evidence revealed a “complicated picture”, as it included a 23-minute video showing armed Israeli settlers approaching Hafez Huraini while working on his land in the at-Tuwani village, Masafer Yatta, Hebron. The court further stated that while there are no grounds for keeping Hafez Huraini in detention, there are grounds for investigating him.
Two Israeli settlers were reportedly investigated in connection to the attack. On 12 September 2022, Israeli soldiers arrested Hafez Huraini after a group of masked and armed Israeli settlers attacked him while working on his land in at-Tuwani village. The court criticized the Israeli police for taking 9 days to question the Israeli settlers, who have not been detained, while Hafez Huraini remained in prison.
The court renewed the human rights defender’s detention twice on 15 September 2022 and 19 September 2022, as the Israeli police requested to keep him in detention for questioning after the settlers, and then file charges. Hafez Huraini’s lawyer said that the police had not questioned him after questioning the Israeli settlers. The human rights defenders falsely accused of attempted murder, harming the security of the area and severe assault. He remains at risk of further imprisonment and fabricated evidences.
Hafez Huraini appeared before an Israeli military court on 15 September 2022. The human rights defender is falsely accused of attempted murder, harming the security of the area and severe assault. The court has ruled to extend his detention for another 5 days, and his next trial appearance is scheduled on 19 September 2022 at 1:00 PM. On 12 September 2022, Israeli forces arrested human rights defender Hafez Huraini from his land in at-Tuwani village, Masafer Yatta, Hebron. His detention occurred after a group of armed Israeli settlers attacked him, resulting in severe injuries and breaking both of his arms. On 15 September 2022, Hafez Huraini appeared before an Israeli military court where his detention was extended for another 5 days.
Hafez Huraini is a Palestinian farmer and human rights defender from at-Tuwani village, Masafer Yatta, Hebron, Occupied Palestinian Territory. Hafez Huraini is a land rights defender and a leader of the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee, a non-violent resistance group since 2000. Hafez Huraini has been repeatedly assaulted by settlers and arrested by Israeli authorities while working on his land in at-Tuwani village. He is also the father of Sami and Sameeha Huraini, Palestinian human rights defenders and co-founders of Youth of Sumud in the South Hebron Hills region of Palestine. Sami and Sameeha Huraini were the award winners from the Middle East and North Africa of the 2021 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk.
On 12 September 2022, around 6:00PM, a group of armed Israeli settlers attacked human rights defender Hafez Huraini while working on his land in at-Tuwani village, Masafer Yatta, Hebron. The group of five settlers were armed with sticks, metal pipes, and an M16 rifle. One armed settler reportedly started attacking the human rights defender with a metal pipe, injuring him and breaking his left arm. Hafez Huraini in response waved the shovel he was using to work the land at the settler defending himself. Hafez Huraini fell to the ground while the armed settlers kept assaulting him until they broke his right arm. In the meantime a settler with a M16 rifle started firing bullets in the air.
Dozens of Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene. The settlers slashed the tires of an ambulance from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society that arrived to the scene during the presence of the soldiers. While the Israeli soldiers continued to physically harass Palestinians who arrived to the scene, the settlers started destroying the trees and the night lighting system on Hafez Huraini’s land. The Israeli forces closed down all entrances and exits to at-Tuwani village shortly after the incident and began a detention operation while raiding homes and firing tear gas and sound bombs.
Later at the scene, Israeli soldiers arrested human rights defender Hafez Huraini claiming that he had injured one of the armed settlers during the attack.
The human rights defender was brought away in an ambulance by Israeli soldiers and was taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba in southern Israel to receive medical care for his broken arms. Hafez Huraini was accompanied by armed soldiers and was initially not allowed to speak to his lawyer. His lawyer was later able to talk to him for a few minutes and the lawyer informed his family that he was transferred to a detention centre inside the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron for questioning without the presence of his lawyer.
The South Hebron Hills region is one of the most dangerous areas for Palestinians in the West Bank, with some of the most extremist Israeli settlements located in the area. The Huraini family is committed to a peaceful resistance as a strategic choice to end the Israeli occupation. They are frequently being harassed by both the Israeli settlers and Israeli authorities for their human rights work. Their home town in South Hebron, at-Tuwani, is a border village on the green line. As a result, their community is frequently subjected to harassment and attacks.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the violent attack and the unlawful detention of human rights defender Hafez Huraini, as well as the lack of accountability of settlers in Hebron and different areas of the Occupied West Bank. It also believes that the detention and the attack of human rights defender Hafez Huraini were carried against him solely as a result of his peaceful resistance.
