On 16 June 2017, three Palestinians from Deir Abu Mash’al killed Israeli Border Police officer Hadas Malka and wounded four other people in East Jerusalem. They were immediately killed by Israeli security forces. Since then, the military has disrupted the daily lives of all 5,000 residents of the village, although they have been accused of no wrongdoing. This form of automatic retaliation has become a policy in which the military cynically abuses its power to mistreat civilians. This collective harm is morally and legally indefensible.
B'Tselem has championed human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for over two decades, promoting a future where all Israelis and Palestinians will live in freedom and dignity.