Palestinian Territory – The Israeli army detained a Palestinian woman in the Gaza Strip for several hours in order to blackmail her brother into turning himself in. She was later released and separated from her spouse and children, which is another common offense in the ongoing string of Israeli crimes being committed in the Gaza Strip for seven consecutive months.
Israeli forces detained Enas Abu Al-Moazza, the wife of a Palestinian journalist, for approximately 12 hours during her recent attempt to escape Gaza City. Abu Al-Moazza and her family were heading towards the south when she was detained at an Israeli military checkpoint set up in the Netzarim area of the central part of the Strip. She was later released and ordered to return to the northern Gaza Strip, after the seizure of all of her belongings.
In forcing her back to Gaza City, the Israeli army keeps Abu Al-Moazza apart from her spouse and children, who now live in the southern Gaza Strip—which Israel has intentionally separated from both Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip by threatening to kill anyone who tries to enter these areas from the south.
Before being stopped by Israeli forces for questioning and inspection, Al-Moazza and her husband, the photojournalist Muhammad Al-Hajjar, were evacuating from Gaza City to the southern city of Rafah with their two children. The family was preparing to travel abroad to escape the ongoing genocide that Israel has been waging against Palestinians in the Gaza Stripsince 7 October 2023.
As reported by Al-Hajjar, the family attempted to move to Rafah on Thursday (yesterday) and spend a few days there prior to their planned departure from the Strip. However, he was forced to leave them behind and head south alone when they came to an army checkpoint.
Al-Hajjar said that the army detained and searched his wife right away without giving any explanation for her arrest. Meanwhile, eight soldiers were pointed weapons at him.
Al-Hajjar reported that he was asked to present his wife’s identity card and the cards of the other families traveling closely behind them when they arrived at the Israeli checkpoint. He was then instructed to read the names and ID numbers on each of the other cards before those on his wife’s card.
“Then the officer inquired about my relationship with Enas, so I told him that she was my wife,” stated Al-Hajjar. “He then instructed me to give [back] her ID and tell her to come [over], which she did. Initially, I believed he was trying to ask her a question, so I waited for her outside.” When she did not return, the Israeli officer told Al-Hajjar to “go from here”: “The soldiers pointed their weapons at me in front of my kids, ordering me to leave and not turn around.” Al-Hajjar was forced to head south without his family.
The army did not reveal the reason behind Al-Moazza’s arrest. While holding her captive of ella, they called her brother of ella “Alaa”, who was allowed to speak to her for a few moments before he was asked to “surrender” himself in exchange for her release of ella.
Al-Moazza’s family affirmed that the Israeli army detained her in an apparent attempt to force her 21-year-old brother to surrender himself, with no explanation as to the reason why; the family stressed that he has no ties to any armed or political groups.
The Israeli army held Al-Moazza for roughly 12 hours before seizing all of her belongings, including cash, gold, and cell phones, and ultimately releasing her. She was given only her ID card.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stresses that holding a person hostage to force their family member to “surrender” is a war crime. Civilians should not be used as tools of war or put in danger during military operations.
Since the start of its genocide, the Israeli army has taken shelters, arbitrarily detained people, and tortured and otherwise mistreated people—especially women—in the Gaza Strip. These crimes have been committed to coerce false confessions, blackmail the victims’ families, and force victims to follow the army’s orders or force the victims’ relatives to surrender themselves.
The Israeli army continues to commit various violations against Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip and throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory. At least 137 Palestinian journalists have been killed during Israel’s massive military operation on the Strip, many of whom were targeted along with their families.
Israel has purposely left no safe haven for journalists during its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, targeting them in their own homes alongside their families, at work despite their wearing specially designed press jackets, and in press tents erected close to hospitals for media coverage.
The Israeli authorities must be pressured to grant Enas Abu Al-Moazza her right to freedom of movement so that she can rejoin her husband and children. The international community must additionally ensure that Israel respects the protection granted to all residents of the besieged Gaza Strip, including journalists and their families, by international humanitarian law, plus put an end to all crimes against civilians there. Israel must stop harassing, arresting, and targeting civilians at checkpoints and using them as “traps.”
