'You will be held accountable': Palestinians in Jerusalem receive 'threatening' text messages from Israeli intelligence

'You will be held accountable': Palestinians in Jerusalem receive 'threatening' text messages from Israeli intelligence
Palestinians have been receiving 'threatening texts' from Israel's intelligence, claiming that they have been taking part in 'acts of violence' in Jerusalem.
2 min read
11 May, 2021
The text has been sent to Palestinians [Twitter]
Palestinian activists have reported receiving threatening text messages from Israeli intelligence after protests at Al-Aqsa Mosque are brutally suppressed.

More than 700 Palestinians have been wounded since Friday in a surge of violence at Al-Aqsa and other parts of Israeli occupied East Jerusalem at the hands of settlers and Israeli police. 

Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for three days in the row this weekend, attacking worshippers with rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas.

On Monday, Jerusalem hospitals announced that they had become full as Palestinian casualties peak.

In addition to the ongoing violence, the Israeli intelligence has begun sending out "threatening" text messages to Palestinians, most likely using a GPS system to geolocate their location.

"Hi!

"You have been identified to have partaken in acts of violence at Al-Aqsa Mosque. You will be held accountable.

"Israeli intelligence," the text said.

Omar Khamaisi, a rights lawyer from the Mizan Foundation for Human Rights, confirmed that many Palestinians who did not attend the Jerusalem protests received the text. 

"Several people who were or were not present in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem have in recent days been sent intimidating and threatening messages from the Israeli intelligence," he said.

"The text informed them that they were diagnosed as having participated in acts of violence in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, threatening It will hold them accountable."

Read more: Fighting Israel's erasure of Palestinian identity in Jerusalem

Israel's actions against Palestinians in recent weeks has been widely condemned by human rights groups and politicians.

Amnesty International
 on Monday slammed Israeli violence and forced expusions of Palestinians from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem.

The rights organisation issued a press release on Monday in reaction to the ongoing crises in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood and at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

It said witness accounts and photographic evidence gathered by Amnesty indicated Israeli authorities have launched "violent raids on Al-Aqsa" and "unprovoked attacks on peaceful demonstrators in Sheikh Jarrah".

Deputy Middle East and North Africa director Saleh Higazi said the "[e]vidence… reveals a chilling pattern of Israeli forces using abusive and wanton force against largely peaceful Palestinian protesters in recent days".

He continued: "The latest violence brings into sharp focus Israel’s sustained campaign to expand illegal Israeli settlements and step up forced evictions of Palestinian residents – such as those in Sheikh Jarrah – to make way for Israeli settlers."

Hijazi said the planned expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah to make way for Israeli settlers "flagrantly violate international war and would amount to war crimes".

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