Israeli occupation forces operating in Gaza (December 2023).
As 2023 ends, the bloodshed in Gaza continues on the day 86 of the Israeli war. However, resistance fighters insist on making this year unforgettable for Israeli occupation forces by engaging in epic confrontations in several fronts across the war-torn strip.
In the last hours of 2023, the Health Ministry in Gaza said the death toll of the brutal aggression neared 22,000, while the number of injured people surpassed 56,400.
100 people were martyred and 286 were wounded in Israeli attacks in Gaza in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 21,822, the ministry said.
Palestinians burry bodies of 80 victims in the southern city of Rafah.
The Israeli attacks sparred no area across the besieged enclave, with prominent air strikes and shelling targeting Nusseirat refugee camp and Zietoun neighborhood in Gaza city, as well as Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza Strip and Khan Yunis in the south, Palestinian media reported.
Among the martyrs announced on Sunday was Sheikh Yousef Salameh, the former Palestinian Minister of Endowments (Awkaf) and a former Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher. He was martyred in an Israeli strike on Central Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Government Media Office said that the relentless Israeli bombardment of Gaza for nearly three months has destroyed 70 percent of the homes in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
An earlier report said more than 200 heritage and archaeological sites were destroyed in the Israeli bombardment considered the most destructive in modern history.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that about 300,000 out of 439,000 homes have been destroyed in Israeli attacks.
Analyzing satellite imagery, the 29,000 bombs dropped on the strip have targeted residential areas, Byzantine churches, hospitals and shopping centers and all civilian infrastructure has been damaged to an extent that they cannot be repaired, the report said.
Israeli Losses
On the other hand, the resistance fighters inflicted heavy losses upon the Israeli occupation on both the casualties and equipment level.
The Israeli occupation army announced on Sunday the death of two more soldiers, taking to 172 the death toll of Gaza ground offensive.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas resistance movement said its fighters fired several Shawaz and Yassine-105 projectiles on Israeli tanks and vehicle in Al-Tuffah and Al-Daraj neighborhoods in Gaza city. The two neighborhoods also witnessed fierce clashes between Al-Qassam fighters and Israeli occupation forces.
The video below shows the heroic confrontations in Al-Bureij in central Gaza.
The resistance group announced, meanwhile, that its fighters fired Sam-7 missile at an Israeli Apache.
Earlier on Saturday, Al-Qassam released a video showing its fighters engaging in fierce clashes at point-blank range in Khan Yunis.
For its part, Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement, announced on Sunday that its fighters fired heavy mortar shells at Israeli gathering in Tal Al-Hawa in southwest of the city of Gaza.
The group said that its fighters sniped an Israeli soldier in Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza city. Elsewhere in Shejaiya, confirmed casualties were reported among occupation soldiers as Al-Quds Brigades’ fighters managed to detonate a tunnel shaft as occupation soldiers approached the area, the resistance group said.
Calling the “Israeli” entity an apartheid regime has nothing to do with anti-Semitism but is the description of what is happening in reality, according to an “Israeli” university professor.
Amos Goldberg, a leading professor of the Holocaust at Hebrew University in the occupied al-Quds [Jerusalem], made the comment in response to an earlier statement by Germany’s anti-Semitism commissioner Felix Klein, who said applying the framework of apartheid to discuss the “Israeli” entity’s treatment of Palestinians is “an anti-Semitic narrative.”
In an interview with the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung [FAZ], Goldberg rejected Klein’s remarks and said, “Accusing ‘Israel’ of apartheid is not anti-Semitic – it’s describing reality.”
In a veiled reference to Klein, Goldberg added, “All decent people must decide which side of history they want to be on.”
The “Israeli” university professor also warned against the conflation of anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism, describing the issue as a “disturbing” phenomenon as he argued that some of the harshest opponents of Zionism were Jews.
“These identifications are serious because they are derived from alleged lessons of the Holocaust,” he added. “And so it appears that any substantial criticism of ‘Israel’ and Zionism is perceived in public opinion, and especially among national and international political and cultural institutions, as an ideological continuation of the Holocaust.”
“From the moment Zionism appeared on the stage of history at the end of the 19th century, opposition to it was born within the Jewish world.”
In an open letter earlier in the month, hundreds of academics and public figures from across occupied Palestine and other nations equated the “Israeli” regime’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories with apartheid.
The signatories complained that the Palestinian people “lack almost all basic rights, including the right to vote and protest. They face constant violence: this year alone, ‘Israeli’ forces have killed over 190 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and demolished over 590 structures. Settler vigilantes burn, loot, and kill with impunity.”
The “Israeli” oppression of Palestinians has witnessed a sharp rise under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist coalition cabinet, which is composed of far-right Zionist parties that oppose Palestinian statehood and support the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied lands.
Over the past months, the usurping regime has intensified attacks against Palestinian towns. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.
According to the United Nations, 2023 is already the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since it began recording fatalities in 2005. The previous year, 2022, had been the most lethal year with 150 Palestinians martyred, of whom 33 were minors, as reported by the United Nations.
6 Palestinians were killed, including 2 children; one succumbed to his pervious injury, and 6 others were injured, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and settler attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:
On 04 August 2023, Qusai Jamal Mu’tan (18) was killed in cold blood by settler’s fire, while two other Palestinians were injured by other settlers’ fire in Burqa village, east of Ramallah. ( Details available in PCHR’s press release.)
On the same day, Mahmoud Hussam Abu Sa’an (18) was killed by IOF’s fire after he threw Molotov Cocktails at them during their incursion into Tulkarm and its camp.
On 06 August 2023, in a crime of extra-judicial executions (assassination), IOF killed 3 Palestinians, including a child, in Jenin. (Details available in PCHR’s press release.)
On 07 August 2023, medical sources at the Palestine Medical Complex announced the death of Ramzi Fathi Hamed (17), from Silwad village, east of Ramallah, who succumbed to an abdominal injury after the security guard of “Ofra” settlement established on lands confiscated from Silwad and Beitin villages, east of Ramallah, fired two live bullets at him, as Hamed threw Molotov Cocktails at the settlement on 01 August 2023.
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.
On 04 August 2023, two Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum weekly peaceful protest against settlements in northern Qalqilya.
On the same day, Minister Moayad Sha’ban, Head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), and other persons suffocated and sustained bruises during IOF’s suppression of Deir Istiya weekly peaceful protest in Salfit.
Also, a Palestinian was injured with a rubber-coated bullet in his leg during clashes with IOF following their incursion into Al-Eizariya village, southeast of occupied East Jerusalem. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested a Palestinian.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 2 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip. However, neither material damage nor casualties were reported.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 208 Palestinians, including 103 civilians; amongst them 37 children, 6 women and a person with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 7 children, 9 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 1015 Palestinians, including 150 children, 30 women and 16 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement
On 03 August 2023, IOF razed a 4-dunum plot of land in al-Dab’a area, east of Battir village in western Bethlehem, and uprooted at least 70 olive seedlings.
On 06 August 2023, IOF forced 8 families of 36, including 10 children, to leave al-Qaboun Compound located between Kafr Malik and al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah, after IOF closed all roads leading to them and prevented sheep-grazing, while settlers stole their sheep.
On the same day, IOF seized a generator from a cave where ‘Aziz al-Rab’I live in Kherbet Janba, east of Yatta, south of Hebron.
On 07 August 2023, IOF confiscated 2 vehicles and ceased ad-Dhahiriya Municipality’s construction works to establish agricultural roads in al-Baha area, east of ad-Dhahiriya village in southern Hebron, under the pretext of working in Area “C”.
On 08 August 2023, IOF handed 14 eviction notices to inhabited houses and cease-construction notices to other under-construction houses in Sarta villages, west of Salfit, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area “C”.
On the same day, IOF uprooted about 20 olive seedlings and levelled agricultural lands to build a settlement road in Kafr ad-Dik village, west of Salfit.
On 09 August 2023, IOF handed 8 cease-construction notices to under-construction houses in Sinjil village, east of Ramallah, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area “C”.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 136 families homeless, a total of 796 persons, including 174 women and 352 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 136 houses; 34 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 14 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 99 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Demolitions on grounds of collective punishment
On 08 August 2023, IOF destroyed a residential unit belonging to the family of ‘Abdul-Fattah Hussein Kharousha in the old ‘Askar refugee camp, northeast of Nablus as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinian families of those accused of carrying out attacks against IOF and/or settlers. PCHR’s fieldworker reported that IOF moved into ‘Askar refugee camp in Nablus and broke into a 4-storey house belonging to Kharousha family, as they forced 4 families living the building out, and two other families of their relatives in nearby houses under fire and teargas canisters. As a result, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet in the left thigh. During the incursion, IOF implanted explosives on the 3rd floor, and remotely detonated it. As a result, the 120-sqm apartment, which housed a family of 4, including a woman, was destroyed, while 3 apartments in the same building and 2 other apartments in a nearby buildings sustained damage. It is noteworthy that IOF killed ‘Abdul-Fattah Kharousha on 07 March 2023 after he was accused of an attack that killed setters on 26 February 2023.
Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts
On 05 August 2023, settlers from “Ma’ale Adumim” settlement, threw stones at Palestinians and their vehicles at the entrance to Al-Eizariya village, east of East Jerusalem. As a result, windows of many vehicles were broken, and Palestinians, including women and children, panicked.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 293 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 9 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 17-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.
In the West Bank, IOF continues to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 134 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested Palestinians at those checkpoints.
On 06 August 2023, IOF closed the northern entrance to Tuqu’ village, south of Bethlehem, and reopened it later. The closure recurred the following day.
On 07 August 2023, IOF closed Qalandia checkpoint and later reopened it.
On 08 August 2023, IOF closed the detector gates established at the entrances to villages of Nabi Saleh, Aboud, and Kharbatha Bani Harith, and reopened them after about an hour and a half. This comes as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy allegedly after a settler’s vehicle was exposed to shotting near the entrance to “Ateret” settlement, which is established on the lands of Umm Safa village, northwest of Ramallah. The entrances to Silwad were also closed but reopened later.
So far in 2023, IOF have established 3,692 temporary checkpoints and arrested tens of Palestinians at those checkpoints.
6 Palestinians were killed, including 2 children; one succumbed to his pervious injury, and 6 others were injured, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and settler attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:
On 04 August 2023, Qusai Jamal Mu’tan (18) was killed in cold blood by settler’s fire, while two other Palestinians were injured by other settlers’ fire in Burqa village, east of Ramallah. ( Details available in PCHR’s press release.)
On the same day, Mahmoud Hussam Abu Sa’an (18) was killed by IOF’s fire after he threw Molotov Cocktails at them during their incursion into Tulkarm and its camp.
On 06 August 2023, in a crime of extra-judicial executions (assassination), IOF killed 3 Palestinians, including a child, in Jenin. (Details available in PCHR’s press release.)
On 07 August 2023, medical sources at the Palestine Medical Complex announced the death of Ramzi Fathi Hamed (17), from Silwad village, east of Ramallah, who succumbed to an abdominal injury after the security guard of “Ofra” settlement established on lands confiscated from Silwad and Beitin villages, east of Ramallah, fired two live bullets at him, as Hamed threw Molotov Cocktails at the settlement on 01 August 2023.
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.
On 04 August 2023, two Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum weekly peaceful protest against settlements in northern Qalqilya.
On the same day, Minister Moayad Sha’ban, Head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), and other persons suffocated and sustained bruises during IOF’s suppression of Deir Istiya weekly peaceful protest in Salfit.
Also, a Palestinian was injured with a rubber-coated bullet in his leg during clashes with IOF following their incursion into Al-Eizariya village, southeast of occupied East Jerusalem. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested a Palestinian.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 2 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip. However, neither material damage nor casualties were reported.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 208 Palestinians, including 103 civilians; amongst them 37 children, 6 women and a person with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 7 children, 9 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 1015 Palestinians, including 150 children, 30 women and 16 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement
On 03 August 2023, IOF razed a 4-dunum plot of land in al-Dab’a area, east of Battir village in western Bethlehem, and uprooted at least 70 olive seedlings.
On 06 August 2023, IOF forced 8 families of 36, including 10 children, to leave al-Qaboun Compound located between Kafr Malik and al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah, after IOF closed all roads leading to them and prevented sheep-grazing, while settlers stole their sheep.
On the same day, IOF seized a generator from a cave where ‘Aziz al-Rab’I live in Kherbet Janba, east of Yatta, south of Hebron.
On 07 August 2023, IOF confiscated 2 vehicles and ceased ad-Dhahiriya Municipality’s construction works to establish agricultural roads in al-Baha area, east of ad-Dhahiriya village in southern Hebron, under the pretext of working in Area “C”.
On 08 August 2023, IOF handed 14 eviction notices to inhabited houses and cease-construction notices to other under-construction houses in Sarta villages, west of Salfit, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area “C”.
On the same day, IOF uprooted about 20 olive seedlings and levelled agricultural lands to build a settlement road in Kafr ad-Dik village, west of Salfit.
On 09 August 2023, IOF handed 8 cease-construction notices to under-construction houses in Sinjil village, east of Ramallah, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area “C”.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 136 families homeless, a total of 796 persons, including 174 women and 352 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 136 houses; 34 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 14 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 99 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Demolitions on grounds of collective punishment
On 08 August 2023, IOF destroyed a residential unit belonging to the family of ‘Abdul-Fattah Hussein Kharousha in the old ‘Askar refugee camp, northeast of Nablus as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinian families of those accused of carrying out attacks against IOF and/or settlers. PCHR’s fieldworker reported that IOF moved into ‘Askar refugee camp in Nablus and broke into a 4-storey house belonging to Kharousha family, as they forced 4 families living the building out, and two other families of their relatives in nearby houses under fire and teargas canisters. As a result, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet in the left thigh. During the incursion, IOF implanted explosives on the 3rd floor, and remotely detonated it. As a result, the 120-sqm apartment, which housed a family of 4, including a woman, was destroyed, while 3 apartments in the same building and 2 other apartments in a nearby buildings sustained damage. It is noteworthy that IOF killed ‘Abdul-Fattah Kharousha on 07 March 2023 after he was accused of an attack that killed setters on 26 February 2023.
Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts
On 05 August 2023, settlers from “Ma’ale Adumim” settlement, threw stones at Palestinians and their vehicles at the entrance to Al-Eizariya village, east of East Jerusalem. As a result, windows of many vehicles were broken, and Palestinians, including women and children, panicked.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 293 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 9 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 17-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.
In the West Bank, IOF continues to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 134 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested Palestinians at those checkpoints.
On 06 August 2023, IOF closed the northern entrance to Tuqu’ village, south of Bethlehem, and reopened it later. The closure recurred the following day.
On 07 August 2023, IOF closed Qalandia checkpoint and later reopened it.
On 08 August 2023, IOF closed the detector gates established at the entrances to villages of Nabi Saleh, Aboud, and Kharbatha Bani Harith, and reopened them after about an hour and a half. This comes as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy allegedly after a settler’s vehicle was exposed to shotting near the entrance to “Ateret” settlement, which is established on the lands of Umm Safa village, northwest of Ramallah. The entrances to Silwad were also closed but reopened later.
So far in 2023, IOF have established 3,692 temporary checkpoints and arrested tens of Palestinians at those checkpoints.
5 Palestinians, including a child, were wounded, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:
On 14 July 2023, a child was wounded with a live bullet in the thigh after IOF opened fire during the suppression of Palestinians who were trying to prevent settlers from establishing a settlement outpost, southwest of Kobar village in Ramallah.
On 16 July 2023, 2 Palestinians were wounded with rubber bullets, and others suffocated during clashes with IOF in Bethlehem. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 3 Palestinians.
On the same day, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet in the shoulder after IOF opened fire during their incursion into Tal village in Nablus. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 2 Palestinians.
On 17 July 2023, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet that penetrated his back and abdomen, causing gastrointestinal perforation and his condition was deemed serious. IOF opened fire when he was in front of his house during IOF’s incursion into Al-Fawar camp, south of Hebron. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested another Palestinian.
In the Gaza Strip, 3 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, while 7 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the western Gaza shores.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 194 Palestinians, including 96 civilians; amongst them 33 children, 6 women and a Palestinian with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 6 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 985 Palestinians, including 147 children, 30 women and 16 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Land razing, demolitions, notices, and settlement
IOF displaced 50 Palestinians, including 23 children and 11 women, after demolishing 11 houses and razing agricultural lands in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, while Israeli settlers established a settlement outpost in Ramallah.
On 14 July 2023, settlers set up a tent and placed a water tank in Al-Batin area, southwest of Kobar village in Ramallah, in an attempt to establish a new settlement outpost. As a result, Kobar villagers gathered and tried to confront the settlers by throwing stones at them, but IOF instantly intervened and suppressed the villagers, wounding a child.
On 16 July 2023, IOF demolished ten 70-sqm houses of bricks and tinplate in Al-Sawahra Al-Sharqiya village in East Jerusalem, rendering 45 Palestinians, including 20 children, homeless.
On the same day, IOF forced Ahmad Qareen to self-demolish his house in Silwan in East Jerusalem under the pretext of unlicensed construction, displacing him, his wife and three children.
On 17 July 2023, IOF leveled a 3-dunum plot of land and uprooted 100 olive and almond trees in the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem. They arrested the son of the land’s owner after assaulting him and his mother.
IOF also stopped the expansion works on the main road leading to al-Rashaida village, east of Bethlehem, and seized a bulldozer after arresting its driver, under the pretext of not obtaining a license.
On 18 July 2023, IOF leveled an 8-dunum plot of land planted with 210 olive, almond and forest trees in the village of Bern, east of Hebron, under the pretext of being state lands.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 120 families homeless, a total of 721 persons, including 154 women and 329 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 128 houses; 28 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 13 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 91 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts
Israeli settlers carried out 13 attacks on Palestinians and their property, threw stones at them, cut trees, and set many vehicles ablaze in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 15 July 2023, Israeli settlers, from “Havat Maon’ settlement outpost, which is established on Palestinian lands confiscated from Hebron, attacked Palestinians shepherds while grazing their sheep in the lands near Kherbet Saroura and Kherbet al-Mofqara. Afterwards, IOF arrived in the area, arrested a volunteer working for the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories “B’Tselem” and released him later.
On the same day, settlers pumped wastewater at agricultural lands in Nahalin village, west of Bethlehem. The agricultural lands have a water spring and are planted with different types of crops.
On the same day, Israeli settlers attacked a house in Sebastia village in Nablus. Afterwards, IOF intervened and arrested two Palestinians, including the owner of the attacked house.
On 16 July 2023, settlers set 4 vehicles ablaze and wrote racist slogans in Abu Ghosh village in occupied East Jerusalem.
On the same day, Israeli settlers set agricultural lands planted with olive trees ablaze in Burin village in southern Nablus, burning many olive trees. They also prevented the fire truck from reaching the area and threw stones at Palestinians’ houses in the village. When the Palestinians tried to confront the settlers, IOF fired teargas canisters at them, causing many of them to suffocate. Additionally, Israeli settlers set up a tent in the outskirts of Burin village, amid fears that it would be in a prelude to establish another settlement outpost in the area.
Israeli settlers gathered near the intersection of Jit village, east of Qalqilya, and held banners with racist slogans against the Palestinians, blocking traffic.
Also, settlers attacked Palestinians’ vehicles at the western entrance to Beitin village, north of al-Bireh City, breaking the windows of some of them.
On 17 July 2023, settlers, under IOF’s protection, deployed along Huwara main street in Nablus and threw stones at Palestinian vehicles. Also, the settlers threw stones at a Palestinian house near Huwara military checkpoint, south of Nablus. The settlers deployed on the road connecting Qusra village with Jalud village in Nablus and indiscriminately opened fire in the area.
On the same day, Israeli settlers cut about 250 grape vines and wrote the phrase “price tag” in Hebrew on stone chains in al-Bouira area, east of Hebron.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 281 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
IOF incursions and arrests:
IOF carried out 166 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 89 Palestinians were arrested, including 2 women.
So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 5,362 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,981 Palestinians were arrested, including 28 women and 326 children. Also, IOF arrested 39 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including 17 fishermen, 20 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 19 incursions.
Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update at the Gaza crossings.
In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 105 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
On 16 July 2023, as part of IOF collective punishment measures following the shooting attack near Tekoa village that injured 3 settlers, IOF closed all Bethlehem’s entrances, the entrance to ‘Aqbet Hasnah leading to the western rural villages, the southern entrance to Al-Khader village “al-Nashash” with a metal detector gate, the entrances to Beit Fajjar and Tekoa villages, al-Container military checkpoint, the western entrance to Beit Jala village, and the entrances to Tekoa village, southeast of Bethlehem.
So far in 2023, IOF have established 3,298 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 142 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
15 Palestinians, including 6 children, were killed, while 144 others, including 19 children, 3 women and a journalist, were wounded, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)’s attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:
On 04 July 2023, IOF withdrew from Jenin refugee camp after conducting a widescale military operation backed by more than one thousand soldiers, dozens of military vehicles, and warplanes of different types. The operation, which lasted for 40 hours, killed 12 Palestinians, including 6 civilians, amongst them 5 children; 2 of them were members of the Palestinian armed groups, and wounded 120 others, including 14 children, at least 2 women and 20 in serious condition. In addition, 109 houses were partially destroyed and became uninhabitable, while the infrastructure was extensively destroyed, including levelling of streets, and outage of power, water and internet as well as disruption of communication services. Also, about 4000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes during the operation[1][2].PCHR’s staff continues to collect information and document IOF violations and crimes during the aggression on Jenin.
On 24 June 2023, Al-Arabi Specialized Arab Hospital announced the death of Tariq Mousa Idris (39), a member of the Palestinian armed groups from ‘Askar refugee camp in Nablus, after succumbing to wounds he sustained by several bullets fired by IOF in clashes that accompanied IOF’s incursion into the camp the day before. In the same incursion, 5 Palestinians were arrested.
On the same day, Isaac Hamdi Al-‘Ajlouni (17), from Kafr ‘Aqab village in Jerusalem, was killed after IOF fired several bullets at him when he carried out a shooting attack at the Israeli soldiers stationed at Qalandia checkpoint, north of East Jerusalem.
Mohammad ‘Imad Abu Hassanein (21) was also killed by IOF fire during clashes at the northern entrance to Al-Bireh. (Details available in PCHR’s press release).
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.
On 22 June 2023, an elderly woman sustained a superficial bullet wound in her shoulder after IOF opened fire to protect a group of settlers who raided and attacked ‘Urif village in Nablus.
On 23 June 2023, 4 Palestinians, including a child, were wounded with rubber-coated bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum weekly peaceful protest in northern Qalqilya.
On the same day, Khaled Akram Malalha (5) was shot with a live bullet in his left eye that required its enucleation. The child was injured after IOF stationed at a temporary checkpoint at the entrance to Bazariya village in Nablus opened fire at a civilian vehicle he was travelling amid clashes that broke out in the area.
On 27 June 2023, 2 Palestinians were wounded by IOF fire during confrontations in Nablus. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 6 Palestinians, including journalist Mohammad Anwar Mona (44) from Zawata village.
On 30 June 2023, 7 Palestinians, including a child, were wounded with rubber-coated bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum peaceful weekly in northern Qalqilya.
On 03 July 2023, 3 children were wounded with live bullets during clashes with IOF at the entrance to Beit Ummar in Hebron. Another Palestinian was also wounded with a live bullet in the foot during similar clashes near Beit Einoun intersection in Hebron.
In the Gaza Strip, on 04 July 2023, 4 Palestinians, including a child, were wounded with live bullets and teargas canisters directly fired by IOF during a demonstration in solidarity with Jenin, east of Gaza. Journalist Fadi Shana’a was wounded with a gas canister in his foot, and another fired eat his camera while covering a similar demonstration in eastern Khan Yunis.
Also, 5 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, while 2 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the western Gaza shores.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 189 Palestinians, including 95 civilians; amongst them 33 children, 6 women and a Palestinian with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 6 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 962 Palestinians, including 146 children, 29 women and 16 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Land razing, demolitions, seizures and settlement
On 22 June 2023, settlers began to establish a settlement outpost on the lands of Derastia village, west of Salfit, opposite to the Emmanuel settlement. The settlers, protected by IOF, leveled the land, set up tents and pens for livestock and prevented Palestinians from reaching their lands.
On the same day, IOF demolished two under-construction houses in the northern Jordan Valley, east of Tubas, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).
IOF also delivered a notice to the residents of Qarawet Bani Hassan village in Salfit, to evacuate Beer Abu ‘Ammar, which is an agricultural recreational area for the municipality, west of the village.
On 23 June 2023, IOF confiscated an excavator while working on a dirt road, east of Al-Dhahiriya village in Hebron.
On 26 June 2023, IOF handed 6 notices to vacate lands of more than 7 dunums, west of Beit Ula in Hebron, under the pretext of being state lands.
On 29 June 2023, settlers, protected by IOF, set up tents on the Palestinian lands in Umm Lakhous area in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, in order to establish a settlement outpost, as IOF arrested 4 Palestinians who tried to confront the settlers.
On 03 July 2023, IOF forced ‘AbdulKareem Abu Tair to self-demolish part of his house in Jabal Al-Mukaber in East Jerusalem upon an Israeli municipal decision under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 105 families homeless, a total of 656 persons, including 139 women and 299 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 113 houses; 27 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 13 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 89 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Demolitions on grounds of collective punishment
On 22 June 2023, IOF destroyed the family house of detainee Kamal Hani Jouri in Nablus as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinian families of those accused of carrying out attacks against IOF and/or settlers. PCHR’s fieldworker reported that the destroyed house was an apartment on the second floor of a 7-storey building. IOF forced the residents of the building and 10 other families in nearby houses to evacuate, implanted explosives on the second floor, and remotely detonated it. As a result, the 180-sqm apartment, which housed a family of 5, including a child, was destroyed. It is noteworthy that IOF arrested Kamal Jouri on 13 February 2023 after he was accused of participating in an attack that killed an Israeli soldier on 11 October 2022.
Since the beginning of the year, IOF have destroyed 13 houses on grounds of collective punishment.
Money and Property Confiscation on grounds of Collective Punishment
On 26 June 2023, IOF raided and searched 16 houses belonging to former detainees in the Israeli prisons in several neighborhoods and villages in occupied East Jerusalem and seized money, vehicles, belongings, and jewelry belonging to those detainees and their families. IOF also handed some of them seizure orders and imposed on them high fines under the pretext that they receive money from the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The Israeli police said in a statement that during their campaign, they seized 270,000 shekels, gold jewelry, 7 vehicles and a motorcycle, in addition to freezing 16 bank accounts.
Family members of the former detainees said to PCHR’s fieldworker that IOF seized their vehicles and gold jewelry, which are personal assets and have nothing to do with the PA.
Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts
On 22 June 2023, Israeli settlers, under IOF’s protection, moved into ‘Urif village in Nablus, where they threw stones at Palestinians’ houses and ‘Obadat al-Rahman Mosque, breaking its windows and ripping and setting copies of the holy Quran ablaze. Also, they burned a classroom on the first floor of ‘Urif Secondary School for Boys.
On 24 June 2023, under IOF’s protection, at least 250 settlers, from “Ateret” settlement established on Ramallah’s lands, moved into Umm Safa village, northwest of Ramallah, and conducted widescale attacks. As a result, 3 residential houses, 3 cars and about 4 cypress trees were burned, and windows and doors of 5 other houses as well as windows of 5 vehicles were broken. Also, many persons suffocated after IOF fired teargas canisters to disperse the Palestinians who tried to confront the settlers.
On 30 June 2023, Israeli settlers, protected by IOF, expelled Palestinians from their lands in Nuweitif area in Qarawat Bani Hassan village, west of Salfit, under the pretext that the area is classified as Area (C).
On the same day, Israeli settlers, from “Kiryat Arba” settlement, east of Hebron, threw stones at Palestinians’ houses near the settlement and when the residents tried to confront them, an Israeli settler opened fire from his pistol at Matariyia family members. Afterwards, large forces of Israeli soldiers arrived and arrested 4 Palestinians.
On 01 July 2023, Israeli settlers, under IOF’s protection, attacked Palestinian farmers in Kafr ad-Dik village, west of Salfit. Also, IOF arrested a Palestinian and beat another.
On 02 July 2023, two Palestinians were injured after Israeli settlers threw stones at a Palestinian vehicle near the entrance to Yasuf village, east of Salfit.
On the same day, Israeli settlers uprooted 35 forest and citrus trees and damaged Palestinians’ property in Bir Abu ‘Ammar area in Qarawat Bani Hassan village, west of Salfit, noting that on 22 June 2023, IOF gave notice to evacuate the area.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 260 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them after being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
Violations of freedom of worship:
On 28 June 2023, Israeli police moved into the vicinity of Bab al-Rahma prayer hall before the start of Eid al-Adha prayer, closed its doors, attacked, and pushed tens of Palestinian worshipers, arrested 15 of them from al-Aqsa Mosque and at its gates. This happened after the Israeli police filed a request to the Israeli Magistrate Court in Jerusalem last Tuesday demanding the re-closure of Bab al-Rahma prayer hall under the pretext of being a strategic area for the Palestinian factions.
On 01 July 2023, IOF closed some of al-Aqsa Mosque’s gates in occupied East Jerusalem in front of Palestinian worshipers for the second time in one week under the pretext of presence of few Palestinian worshipers and few Israeli police officers to guard the mosque, in an unprecedented step as part of the Israeli occupation’s policy to change the status quo of al-Aqsa Mosque and attempts to impose a temporal and spatial division. According to the Deputy Director General of the Islamic Endowments (Awqaf) Department in Jerusalem, Najeh Bakirat, on the second day of Eid al-Adha, 29 June 2023, the Israeli police intentionally closed Bab al-Asbat (Lions Gate), one of the most important gates in the northeastern side of al-Aqsa Mosque, under the pretext of the insufficient number of police officers to guard it as well as the few numbers of Palestinian worshipers entering through it. They also closed Bab al-Hadeed, Bab al-Qawanmah, and Bab al-Malik Faisal, and other gates of al-Aqsa Mosque, while Bab_Hutta, Bab al-Majles and Bab al-Selselah remained open. Bakirat added that on Saturday, the fourth day of Eid al-Adha, the Israeli police unjustifiably re-closed Bab al-Asbat.
On 02 July 2023, IOF handed Eng. Bassam ak-Hallaq, Director of al-Aqsa Mosque’s Reconstruction Committee of the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs in Jerusalem, an order completely banning the employees of the Reconstruction Committee from working at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and threatening to arrest any employee who returns to work inside the mosque.
IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians:
IOF carried out 293 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 196 Palestinians were arrested, including 8 children and a journalist. Jenin refugee camp has witnessed a mass arrest campaign targeting at least 120 Palestinians. In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 2 limited incursions into eastern Bureij refugee camp on 26 and 27 June 2023.
So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 5,096 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,892 Palestinians were arrested, including 26 women and 326 children. Also, IOF arrested 39 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip including 17 fishermen, 20 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 19 incursions.
Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.
In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 203 temporary checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
On 22 June 2023, IOF closed the metal detector gate established on the road connecting Nahalin village with Jab’a village in Bethlehem to vehicles’ movement.
So far in 2023, IOF have established 3,065 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 135 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Weekly Update 15-21 June 2023)
Violation of right to life and bodily integrity:
15 Palestinians, including 7 civilians, amongst them a girl, were killed, and 116 others, including 18 children and a journalist, were injured, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)’s attacks in the West Bank, where IOF warplanes launched airstrikes for the first time in 20 years. Details are as follows:
On 15 June 2023, Khalil Yehia (20), a member of the Palestinian armed groups, was killed and another Palestinian was injured in clashes with IOF that accompanied their incursion into Nablus and demolition of a house belonging to Palestinian prisoner Osama ‘Alaa al-Taweel.
On 19 June 2023, 5 Palestinians, including 3 civilians, amongst them a child, were killed, and 91 others were injured, mostly civilians, amongst them 15 children, a journalist, and 23 in serious condition. On 20 June 2023, one of the wounded succumbed to his injury. (Details available in PCHR’s press release.) Also, Sadeel Ghasan Naghnighyia Turkman (15) died 2 days after sustaining a bullet injury in the head. Sadeel’s father said to PCHR’s fieldworker that IOF opened fire at his daughter from 120 meters while she was in the house yard photographing military vehicles’ incursion into the area, wounding her with a live bullet in her head. Sadeeel was evacuated in serious condition to Jenin Governmental Hospital, where she stayed until her death was announced in the morning of 21 June 2023.
On the same day, Zakariyia Zaghloul (20) was shot dead by IOF during clashes that broke out in Bethlehem. (Details available in PCHR’s press release.)
On 20 June 2023, in a crime of extrajudicial execution, IOF shot dead Khaled Mostafa Sabbah (24), from Nablus, at point-blank after intercepting a taxi carrying him on Tubas-Jenin main street. Also, the taxi driver sustained injuries. Later, IOF announced that Sabbah was the second perpetrator of the shooting attack in “Eli” settlement, southeast of Nablus, that took place few hours earlier, killing 4 Israeli settlers and injuring others. It is worth noting that the first perpetrator was identified as Mohannad Faleh Shehadeh (25), from Nablus, and killed in the attack.
On 21 June 2023, Omar Hashem Jabara (25) was killed, and 11 other Palestinians were injured when IOF opened fire while protecting dozens of Israeli settlers who conducted widescale attacks and retaliatory acts in Turmus ‘Ayya village in Ramallah. (Details available in PCHR’s press release).
On 21 June 2023, in a new crime of extrajudicial execution, IOF killed 3 members of Palestinian armed groups, including a child, after IOF warplanes targeted a white Tucson SUV carrying them near al-Jalamah Crossing, north of Jenin. PCHR’s fieldworker said that IOF prevented Palestinian ambulance crews from approaching the targeted vehicle and allowed the civil defense crew to put out the fire that broke out in the vehicle. They then pulled out three charred bodies from the vehicle and took them to an unknown destination. Later, the IOF pulled the vehicle to al-Jalamah Crossing. Those killed were identified as: Suhaib ‘Adnan al-Ghoul (28), Mohammed Bashar ‘Owais (27), and Ashraf Murad al-Sa’di (17). This was the first time IOF used their warplanes to carry out assassinations in the West Bank in 18 years. IOF Spokesperson claimed, “there is a precise surgery happening now to eradicate a terrorist threat.”
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.
On 16 June 2023, 3 Palestinians, including a child, were shot with rubber-coated bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum weekly peaceful protest in Qalqilya.
On the same day, 2 Palestinians, including a journalist, were injured with live bullets fired by IOF in clashes in Beit Ummar village in Hebron.
On 17 June 2023, a Palestinian was shot with a live bullet in his hand by IOF during their incursion into Silat al-Harithiya village, west of Jenin. Also, several bullets fired by IOF hit an electricity transformer and cut the electricity in the camp.
On the same day, a child sustained live bullet shrapnel injuries in his thigh by IOF in clashes near a military checkpoint established by IOF at the entrance to al-‘Arroub refugee camp in Hebron.
On 19 June 2023, a child was injured with 2 rubber-coated bullets in his neck and chest during clashes with IOF that accompanied their incursion into eastern Beit Furik village in Nablus.
On 20 June 2023, a Palestinian was shot with a live bullet in his right foot in clashes with IOF that followed their incursion into Far’a refugee camp, south of Tubas. In the evening, 3 Palestinians were injured with live bullets when IOF opened fire at them to protect the Israeli settlers who conducted attacks in Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya village in Nablus. Also, a Palestinian was shot with a live bullet in his foot during clashes with IOF at Husan village’s entrance in Bethlehem.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 4 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in the eastern Gaza Strip and one on fishing boats off the western Gaza shores, where Israeli gunboats pumped water at a Palestinian fishing boat, damaging its engine and ripping the fishing nets.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 173 Palestinians, including 87 civilians; amongst them 27 children, 6 women, a person with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 3 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 818 Palestinians, including 127 children, 26 women and 15 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement
IOF demolished 10 housing units and destroyed 3 facilities and other property in the oPt, displacing 46 persons, including 23 children and 10 women. Details are as follows:
On 15 June 2023, IOF dismantled 4 barracks and uprooted 4 residential tents in northern Jordan Valleys, east of Tubas, under the pretext of illegal construction in Area (C). As a result, 4 families of 16, including 4 women and 5 children, were displaced.
On the same day, IOF demolished Maher Zarina’s 150-sqm house in Beit Jala village, west of Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction. The house sheltered 2 women.
IOF handed a cease-construction notice to 2 houses in western Shuyukh al-‘Arrub village in Hebron, under the pretext of illegal construction in Area (C). Also, IOF handed 7 eviction notices to 19 dunums in the same village, under the pretext of being state lands. It should be mentioned noting that these dunums house, a water well, a house, stone chains, and various crops.
On 18 June 2023, the Israeli government approved a decision allowing the Israeli Minister of Finance, one of the “Regavim” settlement organization founders and head of the Religious Zionist Party, to issue preliminary approval for planning and building in the Israeli settlements in addition to shortening settlements expansion procedures. The Israeli “Kan” radio station said that upon this decision, construction plans in the settlements will be approved without needing the approval of Israel’s top political echelons, contrary to the status quo for the last 25 years.
On 19 June 2023, IOF demolished 3 animal facilities built of tinplate in Qalandia in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of building in Area C.
On the same day, IOF handed 10 cease-construction notices to a house, buildings, rooms, and a street in eastern Yatta in Hebron, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).
On 20 June 2023, the Israeli municipality demolished a 2-storey residential building in Silwan village in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction, rendering 2 families of 15, including 2 women and 11 children, homeless. The building belonged to two brothers, namely Wafi and Bahjat al-Taweel.
On the same day, IOF forced Nasri al-Rajbi to implement the Israeli municipal order and self-demolish his 90-sqm house in Beit Hanina village in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction, rendering his family of 7, including 5 children, homeless.
On 21 June 2023, IOF demolished a 120-sqm apartment built of fortified tin and belonging to Ziyad Abu Sbitan in al-Tur neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
IOF also demolished a retaining fence surrounding a plot of land in Sho’afat refugee camp, occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 104 families homeless, a total of 651 persons, including 138 women and 298 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 110 houses and housing units; 26 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 12 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 89 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Demolitions on grounds of collective punishment
On 15 June 2023, IOF destroyed a residential unit belonging to the family of the Palestinian detainee Osama ‘Alaa Al-Taweel in Nablus, as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinian families of those accused of carrying out attacks against IOF and/or settlers. PCHR’s fieldworker reported that IOF moved into Nablus, broke into a 5-storery house belonging to Al-Taweel family, and forced out its residents that included 8 families of 37, amongst them 10 women and 14 children, in addition to 10 other families from nearby houses amid firing of tear gas canisters and stun grenades to entice fear among them and prevent them from approaching the area. During the raid, IOF implanted explosives on the 4th floor of the house and remotely detonated it, destroying the 165-sqm floor that housed a family of 6, including two children. It is noteworthy that IOF arrested Osama Al-Taweel on 13 February 2023 after he was shot with three live bullets in the abdomen and thighs and accused of carrying out an attack that killed an Israeli soldier on 11 October 2022.
On 21 June 2023, IOF raided the family houses of Mohannad Shehadeh and Khaleh Sabah, who were killed after carrying out a shooting attack that killed 4 settlers the day before in the village of ‘Orif in Nablus. IOF took measurements of the two houses in preparation for demolition, as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinian families of those carrying out attacks against IOF and settlers. Before IOF’s withdrawal, the latter arrested 6 Palestinians, including 2 children.
Since the beginning of the year, IOF destroyed 12 houses on grounds of collective punishment.
Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts
On 16 June 2023, settlers from the Ma’on settlement established on the lands of Hebron attacked shepherds in eastern Yatta, denied them access to the pastures in their lands that are under the Israeli settlers’ control after the establishment of the pastoral settlement outpost “Mtsad Yehuda”.
On 17 June 2023, settlers from Tafouh settlement, established on the lands of Yasuf village, east of Salfit, stole 10 sheep from a barn in the village and killed a watchdog.
On 20 June 2023, settlers carried out widescale attacks and retaliatory acts across the West Bank, following a shooting attack that killed 4 settlers in Eli settlement between Nablus and Ramallah. Details are as follows:
Four Palestinians, including one with his wife and daughter, were injured after settlers threw stones at the Palestinian vehicles near the entrance to Yasuf town, east of Salfit, carrying out riots on the roads and breaking windows of a vehicle.
A child sustained injuries after a settler who was riding a bike near the entrance to Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya village in Nablus. Later, settlers marched towards the village, and reached As-Sawiya High School, chanting “Death to Arabs”. They threw stones at the school and houses, set fire to two car workshops, attacked commercial facilities with stones, and burned 5 vehicles completely.
On 21 June 2023, at dawn, settlers attacked a Palestinian house in the town of Kafr Al-Dik, west of Salfit, by smashing its windows, setting a tractor ablaze, and stealing an electric bike.
In the evening, dozens of settlers, protected by IOF, carried out widescale attacks and retaliatory acts in the town of Turmusaya in Ramallah, and burned dozens of homes and vehicles. (Details available in PCHR’s press release).
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 252 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians:
IOF carried out 198 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 69 Palestinians were arrested, including 14 children and a woman.
So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 4,803 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,696 Palestinians were arrested, including 26 women and 318 children. Also, IOF arrested 39 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip including 17 fishermen, 19 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 17 incursions.
Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.
In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 106 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
On 20 June 2023, IOF closed Marah Rabah village’s entrance, south of Bethlehem, to vehicles’ movement in and out.
So far in 2023, IOF have established 2,862 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 131 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
The Israeli occupation authorities today demolished a Palestinian-owned house in the Bethlehem-area city of Beit Jala claiming it was built without a permit, according to a local activist.
One of the homeowner, Tha’ir Zareena, stated in a phone call to the PNN news network that the occupying forces suddenly stormed the area and completely demolished his two-story house without prior notice. He was present at his workplace during the invasion, and the pretext for the demolition was the lack of a permit.
Zareena added that this was the second time the occupying forces demolished his house. About a month ago, they issued an order for self-demolition, and it was indeed demolished. However, the occupying forces did not agree to the demolition process and carried out the complete demolition today, despite his hiring a lawyer to stop the demolition policy.
Mohammad Hamida, an activist, said a large army force broke into the Beir Oneh area of Beit Jala and demolished a 150-square-meter, one-story house owned by Maher Zarineh under the pretext it was built without a permit.
This is the fifth time the Israeli occupation demolishes a Zarineh house in the same area.
Tel Aviv is, however, finding it increasingly difficult to whitewash its entrenched apartheid system and ongoing genocide, especially in light of the openly racist policies and practices of the current right-wing regime cobbled together by its legally-plagued prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Most mornings as I prepare for my run, I tune in to BBC News. Of late, the newscaster has presented, in sober British fashion, the number of Palestinians killed the night before by the Israeli army in its near-nightly raids on homes and refugee camps in the occupied Palestinian Territories. When I canvass American news sites to learn more, there is no mention of these atrocities. The airwaves are replete, however, with news of the Russia-Ukraine war and the death of civilians.
What many Americans won’t hear from these “news” sources is that in 2022, the Israeli army killed more than 170 Palestinian civilians, including 30 children, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; and that since the start of 2023, Israel’s occupation army has already killed 158 Palestinians, including 26 children.
They won’t hear that Israel controls the lives and resources (access to safe clean water) of approximately 7 million Palestinians, and that Palestinian cities, towns, homes, orchards and businesses have been systematically destroyed and repopulated with upwards of 750,000 illegal Jewish squatters (“settlers”).
They won’t hear of the 56 years of Israeli occupation, dispossession, house demolitions, curfews, checkpoints, walls, blockades, permits, night raids, targeted killings, military courts, administrative detention, thousands of political prisoners, tortured Palestinian children, and 56 years of oppression and humiliation.
The ‘Exceptional’ Treatment
What explains the “exceptional” deferential treatment Israel receives, while other human rights violators are condemned or sanctioned by the United States and its allies?
Much of the explanation has to do with Israel’s powerfully effective state-run public relations industry reliant on myths and duplicity. Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has successfully created a new illogic of its own; an illogic that has made the illegal seem legal, the immoral appear moral and the undemocratic sound democratic. It has masterfully marketed a number of myths that have become a part of the political and mainstream media narrative.
From the outset, Israel’s Zionist founders cloaked their true goal of creating a “Greater Israel” —a Jewish state not just in Palestine, but in Jordan, southern Lebanon and the Syrian Golan Heights—in heroic terms.
Fabricated history and tropes about the “good” Israelis developing an unpopulated land, creating agrarian miracles in the desert and reclaiming an historic promised land have become deeply embedded.
In reality, Zionists, like Israel’s first prime minister, polish-born David Ben-Gurion, saw the 1948 United Nations General Assembly partition plan for Palestine as the first step toward future expansion.
Israel’s Colonization Plans
Benny Morris in his book, Righteous Victims, writes that Ben-Gurion in a letter to his son in 1937, framed the Zionist plan for colonizing Palestine: “No Zionist can forego the smallest portion of the Land of Israel. [A] Jewish state in part [of Palestine] is not an end, but a beginning….through this we increase our power, and every increase in power facilitates getting hold of the country in its entirety. Establishing a [small] state….will serve as a very potent lever in our historical effort to redeem the whole country.”
That Israel would have to forcibly transfer and remove the indigenous Palestinian population to realize its colonization plans were erased from the Israeli narrative.
As a consequence of its effective disinformation campaign, many Americans have come to believe that Israel is a democratic, progressive and humane state; a small but brave nation defending itself against “foreign” violence and terrorism.
To realize its “Greater Israel” annexation mission, Israel created another fiction to legitimize its war of choice in 1967. Although the Six-Day War, which began on June 5, 1967, has proved to be a crucial turning point in the modern history of the Middle East, the Israeli myth of vulnerability and “nation under siege” inventions remain largely unchallenged.
Zionist Mythmakers
Fifty-six years ago, the Israeli air force attacked air bases in Egypt, Syria and Jordan, destroying over 80 percent of their warplanes on the ground. Israeli troops swiftly occupied Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank of Jordan and the Syrian Golan Heights. According to Israeli government minutes, its attack was not defensive, but a planned preemptive strike.
The Israelis were fully aware of the need to initiate a disinformation campaign alongside their planned first-strike military operations to allay adverse reactions from Washington and other Western powers.
The Israeli myth that the Jewish state was fighting for its physical survival against a more powerful Arab enemy has had a powerful hold on America’s political leaders and the public. In fact, Arab leaders had no plans to invade Israel and Israel’s leaders knew the war was easily winnable. The annihilation fallacy has become unassailable dogma in Washington—the “right to defend itself” mantra— has allowed Tel Aviv to continue its illegal annexation of captured Palestinian land.
Zionist mythmakers got busy again in the 1980s. To counter the criticism it received following its indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon and massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut in 1982, Israel birthed the Hasbara (“explaining” in Hebrew) Project in 1983.
In that year, the American Jewish Congress sponsored a conference in Jerusalem of top executives, journalists and academics from Israel and the United States, to devise a strategy to resell Israel, cement U.S. economic and military support and make it extremely difficult to critique Israel’s actions.
Hasbara established permanent structures in the United States and Israel to influence how the world, especially Americans, would think about Israel and the Middle East in the future. The talking points they developed are recognizable in current rhetoric; among them: Israel’s strategic importance to the United States; its physical vulnerability; its shared cultural values with the West; and its desire for peace. Israel now labels its continuing hasbara propaganda “public diplomacy.”
News organizations, journalists, academics, politicians and entertainers have come to expect pressure if they go outside the level of acceptable discourse established by Israel and its supporters. Alternative narratives that expose Israel’s abuses are dismissed as anti-Israel or given the feared label of anti-Semitic. Israeli propagandists have made certain to fuse criticism of the regime—anti-Zionism—to anti-Semitism. The anti-Semitic accusation has proven to be a powerful rhetorical device to shield Israel from fault. It has destroyed careers and reputations.
Challenging Israeli Myths
The late-Helen Thomas, noted journalist; Norman Finkelstein, prominent Jewish intellectual, political scientist and author; and Fatima Mohammed, 2023 graduate of CUNY law school are among those who have been willing to brave the onslaught of criticism they would inevitably face for “daring” to challenge Israeli myths.
Helen Thomas, national icon and senior White House correspondent for UPI, was forced to end her 57-year career in 2010 because she persisted in publicly questioning U.S. support for Israel. Thomas later remarked, “You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive.”
In 2007, DePaul University denied tenure to Norman Finkelstein because of his criticism of Israel. In his books, Finkelstein claimed that anti-Semitism has been used to stifle critics of Israeli policies toward Palestinians, and that the Holocaust is exploited by some Jewish institutions for their own gain and to cover Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Because his name had been sullied, Finkelstein was never able to teach again.
Fatima Mohammed, in her recent commencement address to fellow graduates, condemned Israel for perpetuating the Nakba (catastrophe); stating that “our silence is no longer acceptable….Palestine can no longer be the exception to our pursuit of justice.” Predictably, Mohammed faced immediate public condemnation from U.S. politicians and pro-Israel groups, who have accused her of anti-Semitism, and have called for the university to be defunded over her speech.
In December 2008 and January 2009, as before, Israel marshaled its public relations machine. This time it was to counter the criticism it was receiving for its massive 22-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in which 1,398 Palestinians were killed.
The Israel Project
The Israel Project (TIP), a pro-Israel Washington-based group, hired Frank Luntz, a Republican operative and political strategist, to shore up its image. Luntz conducted an extensive study to determine how to integrate Israel’s narrative into mainstream media. His findings were reported in a document titled, “The Israel Project’s 2009 Global Language Dictionary.”
Language from Luntz’s primer, with its scripted discourse for Israeli supporters, has seeped into the thinking, vocabulary and comments of American, Israeli and European politicians, academics and mainstream media.
In his 18-Chapter primer, Luntz coaches Israeli supporters on how to tailor answers for different audiences, outlines what Americans want to hear and what words and phrases to use and to be avoided. It provides guidance on how to challenge statements from and to feign compassion for Palestinians. Luntz advises to always emphasize Israel’s desire for peace, although he initially states that it does not really want a peaceful solution.
Supporters are enjoined to give the false impression that the so-called “cycle of violence” has been going on for thousands of years, that both sides are equally at fault and that Palestine-Israel catastrophe is beyond their understanding. He urges advocates to stress Israel’s need for security, emphasizing that Americans will respond favorably if Israeli civilians are portrayed as the innocent victims of Palestinian “terrorism.”
Luntz states that when Americans are told that Iran supports Hezbollah and Hamas, they will be inclined to be more supportive of Israel. Therefore, when talking about them to repeatedly say “Iran-backed” Hamas and Hezbollah.
On the rare occasions the mainstream media reports on Israel’s abuses, it conforms to the official lexicon outlined in Luntz’s dictionary. Israel’s army of occupation, for example, is referred to as “defense” or “security” forces, Zionist colonizers, (squatters), are termed “settlers,” Zionist colonies are called “settlements” or “neighborhoods,” Palestinians “attack,” while Israelis merely “retaliate.”
Normalizing the Abnormal
Among the more glaring fabrications is the characterization of the Israel-Palestine quagmire as a “conflict” between two peoples with equal political and military resources and equal claims; when it is, in reality, a conflict between the colonizer, Israel, and the colonized, Palestinians.
For 75 years, Israeli propaganda has allowed it to be the exception—to flout international norms and laws with impunity. Because of the myths, Israel has been extremely influential in determining U.S. policy in the Middle East. The country’s unremitting and methodical disinformation campaigns from 1948 to the present have allowed Israel to plant the Zionist flag on Palestinian land and in the hearts and minds of Americans.
Tel Aviv is, however, finding it increasingly difficult to whitewash its entrenched apartheid system and ongoing genocide, especially in light of the openly racist policies and practices of the current right-wing regime cobbled together by its legally-plagued prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s hasbara industry, however, remains undaunted. TIP folded in 2019 after its funding dried up, but the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) continues to carry on Israel’s hasbara mission.
Israel knows that the narratives it tells itself and the world are apocryphal and the Jewish state, in its present form, is unlawful and unjust. Hence, in an attempt to make the apocryphal real and the fraudulent legal, Israel continues its ongoing ideological war to normalize the abnormal in Palestine.
– Dr. M. Reza Behnam is a political scientist specializing in the history, politics and governments of the Middle East. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
A Palestinian toddler was killed, and 10 other Palestinians, including 2 children and a woman, were wounded, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:
On 05 June 2023, two-and-a-half-year-old Mohammad Hitham al-Tamimi succumbed to a bullet injury in his head in an IOF shooting in Nabi Saleh village in Ramallah on 01 June 2023. Also, his father and 3 other Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were wounded. (Details available in PCHR’s press release).
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.
On 01 June 2023, a Palestinian was shot with a bullet in his waist after IOF unjustifiably opened fire at his vehicle while crossing the Shu’fat refugee camp checkpoint in occupied East Jerusalem. The wounded was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, where his health condition was deemed serious.
On 04 June 2023, a Palestinian sustained bruises after being assaulted by IOF in Hebron’s Old City.
On the same day, 2 Palestinians, including a child, were shot with live bullets fired by IOF when the latter were protecting Israeli settlers, who conducted attacks in Burqa village in Nablus. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested a Palestinian.
On 05 June 2023, 3 Palestinians were injured with rubber-coated bullets and a teargas canister fired by IOF while protecting Israeli settlers who conducted attacks in Kafr Thulth village in eastern Qalqilya. Also, Israeli settlers threw stones and wounded a Palestinian in the head as well as burning a vehicle.
In the Gaza Strip, 4 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip while 9 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the western Gaza shores.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 156 Palestinians, including 78 civilians, amongst them 25 children and 6 women, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 671 Palestinians, including 105 children, 26 women and 12 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement
IOF demolished 5 houses, including 2 residential buildings comprised of 5 housing units, displacing 6 families of 43, including 13 women and 22 children. Also, IOF demolished 2 facilities and seized around 45 dunums in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 02 June 2023, IOF forced Ibrahim Abu Tair to self-demolish his 90-sqm house in Umm Tuba village in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction, rendering him and his pregnant wife homeless.
On 04 June 2023, IOF forced ‘Odai Surri to self-demolish a ceramic tiles showroom comprised of two buildings: one is 300 sqms and built of aluminum while the other is 100 sqms built of wood and aluminum in Jabal Mukaber village in occupied East Jerusalem under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
On the same day, IOF seized a 2-dunum plot of land and handed a demolition notice to a residential house in Al-Khader village in Bethlehem.
Also, IOF handed a cease-construction notice to 2 houses and a livestock barrack in eastern ad-Dhahiriya village in Hebron under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).
On 05 June 2023, the Israeli occupation authorities announced the seizure of 42 dunums and 651 square meters from Sarta and Bruqin villages in western Salfit under the pretext of “land acquisition for public interest” and expanding the settlement road known as “Street 5” that serves “Beduel” settlement established on Palestinian lands, west of Salfit.
On 06 June 2023, IOF forced 3 Palestinian families to self-demolish 2 residential buildings comprised of 5 housing units in Wadi Qaddoum neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of land acquisition for public interest. As a result, 31 persons, including 9 women and 17 children, were displaced.
On the same day, IOF demolished As’ad Shrieteh’s 120-sqm house in Al-Mazra’a al- Gharbiyia village in Ramallah.
Also, IOF demolished Fatmah Totah’s 120-sqm house in Wadi al-Jouz neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, displacing 8 persons, including 2 women and 5 children; one of them has a mobility impairment and mental disability. In the same area, IOF demolished a 50-sqm horse barrack belonging to ‘Arafat Totah under the pretext of unlicensed construction on green land.
Moreover, IOF uprooted 100 olive trees, razed many agricultural roads, and demolished a retaining wall in southern Hizam village in occupied East Jerusalem.
IOF gave demolition notices to 3 houses in eastern Yatta city in Hebron under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).
On 07 June 2023, IOF confiscated a 12-sqm steel caravan in Idhna village in Hebron.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 94 families homeless, a total of 600 persons, including 125 women and 274 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 100 houses; 25 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 10 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 85 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts
Settlers carried out at least 5 attacks on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, injuring many Palestinians and damaging their property. Also, the settlers stole 19 sheep in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 03 June 2023, settlers opened fire, threw stones and pepper-sprayed at 3 houses in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem while heading to the Tomb of “Rabbi Shimon” in the central neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
On 04 June 2023, Israeli settlers, from “Homesh” settlement, which is established on the lands of Silat ad-Dhahr village in southern Jenin and Burqa and Bizzariya villages in northwestern Nablus, attacked Palestinian houses at the main entrance to Burqa village. Also, the settlers set a Hyundai car ablaze, broke the windows of 2 other cars and smashed the windows of 3 houses.
On 05 June 2023, Israeli settlers, from the pastoral settlement outposts, which are established on the lands of ‘Ein Samiya compound in eastern Ramallah, sneaked into the Palestinian land in the same compound. They damaged crops and greenhouses, cut branches of trees, and damaged water tanks.
On 07 June 2023, settlers stole 19 sheep from a barn belonging to a Palestinian from Kafr ad-Dik village in western Salfit.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 219 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them were due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians:
IOF carried out 190 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 99 Palestinians were arrested, including 6 children. On 01 June 2023, IOF conducted a widescale arrest campaign against 23 Palestinians from Tuqu village in Bethlehem. On 06 June 2023, IOF locked the residents of a building housing 3 families of 14 on the ground floor near the annexation wall in Zeita village in Tulkarm, and turned it into a military barrack. One of the building residents said that IOF forced them to leave their apartments and locked all of them on the ground floor, informed them that they will stay in the house for 3 days.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF carried out a limited incursion into eastern Khan Yunis on 05 June 2023.
So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 4,431 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,545 Palestinians were arrested, including 25 women and 291 children. Also, IOF arrested 34 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip including 12 fishermen, 19 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 16 incursions.
Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.
In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 120 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
As part of their collective punishment policy, IOF continued their cordon on al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah, for 24 consecutive days by closing its eastern and western entrances, under the pretext of providing protection for settlers living in the nearby pastoral settlement outposts.
According to PCHR’s fieldworker, on 01 June 2023 in the morning, IOF removed the sand berms from the western entrance and re-opened it after 19 days of its closure while the western eastern remained closed. As the villagers continued to protest the closure of the eastern entrance and their attempts to re-open it, IOF moved into the village on 03 June 2023 and conducted a widescale incursion; during which 15 Palestinians were arrested.
Ameen Abu ‘Aliyia, Head of Mughayyir Village Council, said that IOF have completely closed the village’s eastern entrance while they close the western entrance daily from 06:30 to 14:00, preventing the villagers from entering and exiting the village and forcing them to take dirt roads to reach their workplaces.
So far in 2023, IOF have established 2,646 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 126 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that photojournalist Momen Samreen was shot in the head while doing his job and covering the Israeli military raid.
Two journalists were injured early on Thursday after Israeli forces raided the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Israeli and Palestinian media reported.
A large military convoy arrived in downtown Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government, leading hundreds of Palestinians to gather in the area.
Some Palestinian youth hurled stones at the Israeli forces, who fired live bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas at the crowd, according to eyewitnesses.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least six people were transferred to the hospital for treatment, including two journalists who were injured by Israeli gunfire.
Video: The moment when Israeli occupation forces deliberately shot Palestinian journalist Momen Samreen in the head despite wearing Press uniform while doing his job and covering an Israeli military raid in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank earlier on Thursday morning. pic.twitter.com/Su2ny6JMlJ
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that photojournalist Momen Samreen was shot in the head while doing his job and covering the Israeli military raid.
The Israeli army claimed its forces were operating in Ramallah to demolish the residence of a Palestinian man who allegedly carried out a bombing attack in Jerusalem last November.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 158 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed by Israel since the beginning of the year in the occupied territories and the besieged Gaza Strip.
2 Palestinians were killed, and 23 others, including 3 children, were wounded, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)’s attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:
On 26 May 2023, the Israeli authorities announced the killing of ‘Alaa Khalil Qaysiyah (25) from Hebron, allegedly after Qaysiyah attempted to carry out a stabbing attack inside the “Tineh Amorim” settlement established on the lands of Al-Dhahiriya village.
On 29 May 2023, Ashraf Al-Sheikh Ibrahim (37), an officer in the Palestinian Intelligence Service, was killed, and 5 others were wounded during armed clashes with IOF during the latter’s incursion into Jenin. During which, one of IOF’s military vehicles attacked and pushed an ambulance belonging to Al-Hayat Ambulance Center near Al-Razi Hospital in central Jenin, crashing into two other vehicles and inflicting damage to them. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 6 Palestinians.
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.
On 25 May 2023, 14 Palestinians, including two children, were injured during clashes with IOF after the latter’s widescale incursion accompanied by 70 military vehicles and backed by Yamam Special Units, 6 bulldozers and a helicopter in ‘Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, south of Jericho. The incursion included the closure of all main and subsidiary streets with sand berms, and widescale raids of around 40 houses, after blowing up some of their doors and searching their contents. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 14 Palestinians.
On 26 May 2023, 2 Palestinians were shot with rubber bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum weekly peaceful protest against settlements in northern Qalqilya.
On 28 May 2023, 2 Palestinians, including a child, were injured, and another was arrested, during clashes with IOF at the eastern entrance to Al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah, noting that the entrance was closed before with sand berms.
In the Gaza Strip, 3 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, while 2 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the Gaza western Gaza shores.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks killed 155 Palestinians, including 77 civilians; amongst them 24 children and 6 women, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 661 Palestinians, including 103 children, 25 women and 12 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement
IOF demolished 4 houses, parts of another house, and 5 facilities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 26 May 2023, IOF gave demolition notices to 2 barracks used as livestock barns in Ithna village in Hebron, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).
On 27 May 2023, IOF forced ‘AbdulHaleem Al-Shaloudi to demolish the roof of his 20-sqm kitchen in Silwarn, East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
On the same day, IOF forced Zaid Al-Salaymeh to demolish his 60-sqm under-construction apartment in Wadi Qaddum neighborhood in East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
On 29 May 2023, IOF demolished a 150-sqm livestock farm, west of Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
On the same day, IOF dismantled a 20-sqm a commercial kiosk/stall in Al-Walaja village, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
Also, IOF forced Isaac Al-Hroub to demolish a 70-sqm well and a 3-sqm bathroom of bricks on his land near the annexation wall, west of Deir Samet village in Hebron.
IOF demolished a 200-sqm under-construction house belonging to Ibrahim ‘Ayesh in Artas village, south of Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
In addition, IOF demolished a 150-sqm house belonging to Nasser Nassar in the airport land, east of Jericho.
On 31 May 2023, IOF handed 18 cease-construction notices in northwestern Deir Ballut village, west of Salfit, including 12 notices to 13 houses, 5 to agricultural rooms, and one to a commercial facility, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 88 families homeless, a total of 557 persons, including 112 women and 252 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 95 houses; 22 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 10 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 83 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts
Settlers carried out 7 attacks on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, injuring 11 Palestinians, cutting trees, and burning crops. Details are as follows:
On 26 May 2023, settlers, protected by IOF, threw stones at 5 Palestinians, including a child, and injured them in Sidr area between Turmusaya and A-Mughayer villages in Ramallah. The attack also included burning agricultural crops, 5 civilian vehicles and smashing the windows of 3 vehicles.
On 27 May 2023, settlers, protected by IOF, wounded a Palestinian during their raid into Al-Qaboun and Ras Al-Teen squares, east of Al-Mughayer town in Ramallah. The settlers and IOF raided homes and assaulted citizens through obstructing and searching them.
On the same day, 5 Palestinians, including a man with his wife and daughter, were injured and bruised as settlers assaulted them during the latter’s attack on their land in Bidya, west of Salfit.
On 28 May 2023, settlers cut 18 trees in their attack on Palestinians’ lands in Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya village in Nablus.
On 29 May 2023, settlers brought caravans and heavy equipment, including excavators, bulldozers, and trucks. The settlers placed the caravans in “Homesh” settlement, which is established on the lands of Silat al-Harthiya village, south of Jenin, and Burqa village, north of Nablus. This came upon IOF’s recent decision to return to the settlement, and the settlers announced the establishment of a religious school in the settlement. It is noteworthy that Homesh settlement was evacuated in 2005 as part of IOF’s redeployment plan, during which the Gaza Strip settlements were also completely evacuated along with 4 settlements in Jenin. Recently, the Israeli government has decided to return the settlers to those settlements.
On the same day, settlers set fire to a plot of land planted with wheat and barley in Deir Dabwan village, east of Ramallah, burning 15 dunums.
On 30 May 2023, settlers from “Homesh” settlement, which is established on the village lands of Jenin and Nablus, in the northern West Bank, attacked a house with stones in the Burqa village, north of Nablus, and smashed the rear window of the house owner’s vehicle.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 214 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians
IOF carried out 157 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 81 Palestinians were arrested, including a child. In the Gaza Strip, IOF carried out two limited incursions into eastern Rafah on 29 May 2023, and eastern Khan Yunis on 31 May 2023.
So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 4,241 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,446 Palestinians were arrested, including 25 women and 285 children. Also, IOF arrested 34 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip including 12 fishermen and 19 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 12 incursions.
Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.
In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 97 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
So far in 2023, IOF have established 2,526 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 124 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
Israeli demolition policy in Palestine saw an increase in recent months. (Photo: ActiveStills.org)
The statement called on “Israel, as the occupying power, to halt all confiscations and demolitions and to give unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem.”
Ten European countries have urged Israel to halt its policy of home demolitions and confiscation of Palestinian properties in the occupied West Bank, Anadolu news Agency reported.
Israeli occupation forces blow up the family house of slain Palestinian Mutaz Khawaja, in the town of Ni'lin, on Tuesday morning. pic.twitter.com/Hqpa5yUZnq
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 23, 2023
The call came in a joint statement issued on Friday by the consulates general of Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland and the Office of the European Union Representative to the West Bank and Gaza.
The statement called on “Israel, as the occupying power, to halt all confiscations and demolitions and to give unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem.”
It also urged Tel Aviv to “return or compensate for all humanitarian items funded by the consortium of donors,” in reference to Israel’s demolition of buildings funded by the European Union since 2015 estimated at 1,291,000 euros ($1,385,300).
The 10 countries “strongly condemned the recent demolition of the donor-funded school in Jubbet Adh Dhib” and expressed “their grave concern about the threatened demolition of another 57 schools in the West Bank.”
Israel widely uses the pretext of a lack of construction permits to demolish Palestinian homes, especially in Area C, which is under the Israeli army’s control.
2 Palestinians Killed, and 10 Houses and 1 Apartment Bombed in Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Strip, Death Toll Rises to 33, including 4 Women and 6 Children
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continue their widescale aggression on the Gaza Strip, which began at dawn on Tuesday, 09 May 2023. After the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a previous press release, IOF warplanes conducted more airstrikes on residential houses, agricultural lands, sites of the Palestinian armed groups, and others. As a result, 2 members of the Palestinian armed groups were killed, and other Palestinians were wounded. Thus, the death toll since the Israeli aggression started has risen to 33, including 15 civilians, amongst them 6 children and 4 women. According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), the number of injuries has risen to 147, including 48 children, 26 women and 10 elderlies. Also, 10 residential houses and a residential apartment were destroyed in Israeli airstrikes, bringing the number of targeted houses and apartments to 24, including 22 completely destroyed. Moreover, a hospital and a healthcare center sustained damage due to nearby airstrikes.
This comes at a time the humanitarian crisis and disruption of public life exacerbate, as schools have been closed and fishing at Gaza Sear has been suspended for the fourth consecutive day, leaving 3500 fishermen without a source of income. Also, due to closure of crossings, movement of Gaza imports and exports has stopped, including the entry of fuel needed for the operation of Gaza Power Plant that is about to run out, forcing the Plant’s administration to turn off one of the three turbines to prolong its working hours and implying that the plant will totally shut down within 72 hours.
The following are the most significant developments:
12 May 2023
At 14:15: IOF warplanes bombed and completely destroyed Sameer Taha’s 2-storey house of 3 apartments in Jablia.
Around the same time, IOF warplanes launched 2 missiles at Ahmed al-Hashash’s asbestos house in northern Rafah. As a result, al-Hashash’s house was completely destroyed in addition to 3 other asbestos houses while a person was injured.
At 15:55: IOF warplanes bombed and completely destroyed Kamal Abu Tair’s 3-storey house of 5 apartments in ‘Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis.
At 16:20: Eyad al-‘Abed al-Hasani (51), a commander of Al-Quds Brigades, and his Deputy, Mohammed Waleed ‘Abed al-‘Aal (33) were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential apartment on the 5th floor of a building in al-Nasser neighborhood in western Gaza City. As a result, the apartment was destroyed and 5 Palestinians, including 2 children, were injured. IOF announced that IOF and Shin Bet (Shabak) killed in a joint targeted operation Eyad al-Hasani, head of the Palestinian Islamic ‘s (PIJ) operations unit at, along with another operative.
Around the same time, IOF warplanes launched 2 missiles at Hussain Ma’rouf’s 3-storey house of 4 apartments in Beit Lahia, destroying it completely.
At 20:30: IOF warplanes bombed and completely destroyed a 5-storey house belonging to Mohammad Yassin in Al-Zaytoun neighborhood.
At 20:35: IOF warplanes launched two missiles at a house belonging to Yehya Abo ‘Obeid behind the southern side of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah. As a result, the house was completely destroyed while the Hospital sustained partial damage as well as the Ministry of Health (MOH)’s Ambulance and Emergency building, that is 100 meters away from it. Also, 10 Palestinians, including 2 children and 4 women, were injured; among them three were injured inside the hospital, including an ill child.
Moreover, as a result of recurrent airstrikes on nearby lands, MOH’s Muscat Primary HealthCare Center sustained partial damage. The Center is comprised of 2 floors and a basement on an area of 1500 sqm and houses other departments including South Central Ambulance Department serving the Rafah and Khan Yunis areas and is located in Gizan Al-Najjar area. MOH has also announced the evacuation of the ambulance station and referring all its services to Nasser Medical Complex, following the damage inflicted to the Center and breakdown of the communications network.
13 May 2022:
At 01:30: IOF warplanes bombed a 3-storey house belonging to Salim Hasan Abu Al-‘Ata in eastern Shuja’iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza, extensively destroying two floors, and injuring one person.
At 03:00: IOF warplanes bombed and completely destroyed a 5-storey house belonging to Hazem Muhanna on Yarmouk Street, north of Gaza City.
At 10:05: IOF warplanes launched 2 missiles at a 3-storey house belonging to Faraj Banat housing 3 apartments near Beit Lahiya roundabout. As a result, 2 women were injured, and the house was completely destroyed.
At 11:45: IOF warplanes launched two missiles at a 3-storey house belonging to Al-Za’anin family and housing 6 apartments in Beit Hanoun. As a result, the house was completely destroyed.
PCHR strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip and warns of any further losses of civilian life and damage to civilian property, urging the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take serious action into the situation of Palestine.
PCHR reiterates its call upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfil their obligations as per Common Article 1 of the Convention, “undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances,” and their obligations under Article 146 of the same Conventions, i.e., to hold accountable persons accused of committing grave breaches of the Convention.
The Gaza Strip has been under attack for the fifth consecutive day in the context of a military operation launched by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on 9 May 2023. Innocent civilians have been killed and wounded, and civilian objects, including civilian houses and apartments, have been targeted and destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.
According to the documentation by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), as of the time writing this paper, more than 31 Palestinian have been killed, including 15 civilians, amongst them 6 children and 4 women, and more than 100 Palestinians have been wounded. In addition, 30 civilian buildings have been completely destroyed and over 100 have been partially destroyed. The Israeli occupation authorities have also decided to collectively punish 2 million Palestinians in the Strip by closing the two main crossings in the Strip Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing further deteriorating the humanitarian conditions in the Strip.
PCHR monitors with great concern the silence of the International Criminal Court Prosecutor over the crimes committed by the IOF against the Palestinian people in the context of its illegal occupation in Palestine. Thus far, the ICC prosecutor has not issued any public statement regarding Palestine since assuming office.
PCHR calls on the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Mr. Karim Khan to issue a public statement condemning Israel’s crimes in an effort to contribute to the seizing of the ongoing aggression, during which apparent war crimes and crimes against humanity continue to be committed, and obligating Israel to respect international human rights and humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity.
While PCHR is aware of Mr. Karim Khan’s stance of opposing public statements in the context of Palestine, as he publicly stated in a meeting during the Assembly of State parties with non-governmental organizations in December 2022, PCHR calls on Mr. Karim Khan to reverse this policy, and prioritize the situation in Palestine due to the scale and enormity of the crimes that have been and still being committed, and issue a public statement immediately.
While preventative public statements might not necessarily achieve the wanted goal, they have proved to have worked before and can deter Israeli practices that may contribute to the ongoing crimes against humanity and war crimes. For example, when former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda issued a preventative statement regarding the planned forced eviction of the Bedouin community of Khan Al-Ahmar in the West Bank, the then-Israeli Foreign Minister confirmed that Israel did not evict Khan al-Ahmar out of concerns of an ICC investigation. This unequivocally shows that such preventive statements can provide sufficient deterrence.
The lack of accountability, including the non-issuance of preventive statements for the repeated crimes against the Palestinian people, means the granting of immunity to those who practice war crimes and encourages the commission of further crimes and violations against the Palestinian people. More civilians are expected to be killed and wounded and more civilian objects are expected to be targeted by the IOF if the Israeli military operation in the Strip continues.
This is not the first time that Israel committed apparent war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of its military operations against the Strip. Previous operations including, Operation Cast Lead (2008-200), Operation Protective Edge (2014), and Operation Guardian of the Walls (2021), prove clearly that there is a systematic pattern by the IOF in targeting civilians and civilian objects. As the Prosecutor is clearly aware of the crimes that could have been committed in the context of this military operation due the evidence of previous operations, he should have issued a preventative statement warning of the commission of violations which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity when the Israeli authorities announced the start of this operation.
In addition, PCHR calls on the ICC Prosecutor to expedite his investigation into the situation in Palestine. More than two years have passed since the former ICC Prosecutor Ms. Fatou Bensouda, opened an investigation in Palestine and eight years since the opening of a preliminary examination. Mr. Karim Khan is yet to take any action with regards to the investigation in Palestine other than his announcement that he intends to visit Palestine during 2023. As victims’ representatives, PCHR is yet to receive any communication from the Office of the Prosecutor concerning the investigation in Palestine since Mr. Karim Khan assumed office. The delay in taking practical steps is questionable given that the Palestine is amongst the most well-legally documented conflicts in the world.
At the same time, PCHR has been monitoring Mr. Karim Khan’s conduct in other situations, especially Ukraine. In less than a year, Mr. Karim Khan opened an investigation and issued arrest warrants for Russian perpetrators suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. He has also been very active in his media activity conducting numerous media interviews and issuing public statements on the Court’s website and twitter with regards to the situation in Ukraine.
PCHR believes that this is extremely important not only for the ICC but for the whole international criminal justice system. At the same time, it is also crucial that the same level of attention, activity, and resources is applied to other situations including, Palestine, to avoid perceptions of selectivity and politicization. Victims should not be competing for justice and double standards should not have a place in justice.
Israeli occupation forces during a raid in the West Bank (photo from December 2022).
Early Wednesday morning, Israeli occupation forces initiated a widespread campaign of arrests in various areas throughout the occupied West Bank. The campaign, which included confrontations, clashes, and arrests, targeted multiple towns and neighborhoods.
In the town of Jaba, south of Jenin, the occupation forces arrested brothers, Karam and Hakim Al-Hodhod, after storming their family home. In the same area, they also arrested Ahmed Abu Aziz and his father, Muhammad Abu Aziz. Clashes between resistance fighters and the occupation forces occurred during the raid
Further arrests were made in occupied Al-Quds, where Adam Ghaith, Saleh al-Hadra, Aysar Abu Sbeitan from Al-Tur, and Ayham al-Salaymeh from Ras al-Amud were arrested after having their homes raided and ransacked.
In Ramallah, young men clashed with the occupation forces in the Jalazoun refugee camp
Local Palestinian protesters shower Israeli occupation soldiers with stones during an Israeli raid into Al-Jalazon refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, last night. pic.twitter.com/44LzBXeRYL
In Nablus, the occupation forces arrested Khalil Abu Ghadeeb and Bahaa Al-Tayyan from their homes while resistance fighters fired on the occupation forces during their withdrawal from the Al-Maajin neighborhood.
Palestinian sources reported that warning sirens sounded in Nour Shams camp in Tulkarem, indicating an impending occupation force raid.
Additionally, occupation forces stormed Za’tara, where they tampered with the contents of homes belonging to citizens, Raafat Nayef Al-Wahsh, Youssef Al-Bo, and Fadi Battah, before withdrawing without making any arrests.
Palestinian resistance pledges to continue with response
The Palestinian resistance movement in the Gaza Strip confirmed that the resistance will continue until the expulsion of the occupation and the liberation of Palestine and its return to its Arab and Islamic embrace.
The movement also stressed, in a statement, the need for the unity of our people on the program of resistance and adherence to rights and constants. The unity of our people on the choice of resistance is a prerequisite for achieving victory.
IOF Demolish Land in occupied Jerusalem
Palestinian-owned land was leveled and a wall was demolished in the town of Sur Baher, belonging to the Amira family, by the Israeli Occupation Forces. They also detained four young men from the same area of occupied Jerusalem.
Israeli occupation forces carry out bulldozing works in a Palestinian-owned land in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher, today. pic.twitter.com/byubENFvrw
The contents of a commercial shop in the al-Jalazone refugee camp in Ramallah were damaged by the Israeli Occupation Forces, and money was stolen.
Media coverage: The vandalism left behind Israeli occupation forces last night after savagely storming a vegetable shop in Al-Jalazon refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/aXNZJR0s3x
Nakahle: Martyred Commanders Immediately Replaced Earlier on Tuesday, the Secretary-General of Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nakhale, confirmed the group’s readiness to confront Israeli attacks. He revealed that the group’s commanders who were martyred during the Israeli aggression on Gaza earlier this month have already been replaced.
Nakhale maintained that the group holds rockets that can reach any area of occupied Palestine and that rockets fired at occupied territories during “Operation Revenge of the Free” were homemade and manufactured by the group’s military wing, Al-Quds Brigades. Six Al-Quds Brigades commanders were assassinated during the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continue their widescale aggression on the Gaza Strip for the second consecutive day as it began at dawn on Tuesday, 09 May 2023, when 3 commanders of Al-Quds Brigades (AQB), the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), were assassinated by bombing their houses over their families and neighbors’ heads. During the aggression, which continues up to the preparation of this report, IOF conducted extensive airstrikes and artillery shelling against residential houses, agricultural lands, sites of Palestinian armed groups, and others. As a result, so far 25 Palestinians, including 13 civilians, 6 children and 4 women, have been killed, and 63 others, including 15 children and 15 women, have been wounded. These attacks on civilian areas reflect Israel’s blatant disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians and non-observation of the principle of distinction and proportionality binding on IOF under international law. The bombing has also caused complete and partial destruction to dozens of housing units, rendering dozens of families homeless, as PCHR’s fieldworkers are still documenting the destruction. Meanwhile, PCHR is still investigating certain incidents that inflicted losses among civilians and property. PCHR’s preliminary investigations indicate casualties fell after homemade rockets had fallen in three incidents, during which 3 civilians, including 2 children, were killed and 26 others were wounded, including 7 children and 5 women.
The following are the most significant developments:
On 09 May 2023, IOF launched an aggression on the Gaza Strip, conducted extensive air raids and bombed a vehicle and 4 apartments on the heads of their residents. As a result, 15 Palestinians, including 4 children and 4 women, were killed, and 20 others, including 4 children and 4 women, were wounded. IOF warplanes fired 2 missiles at 2 floors of a 6-storey residential building in al-Rimal neighborhood in central Gaza City, resulting in the killing of 6 Palestinians, including a woman and 2 children, and injury of 6 others, including 2 women. Those killed were identified as Jamal Saber Mohammed Khaswan (52), a dentist and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al-Wafaa Charity Association; his wife, Mervat Saleh Mohammed Khaswan (44); and their son Yousef (19), a student at the Faculty of Dentistry. All of them were civilians and lived on the 6th floor. And those killed on the 5th floor were identified as Tareq Ibrahim Mohammed ‘Izz al-Deen (51), a commander at al-Quds Brigades; and his two children ‘Ali (9) and Mayar (7).
Around the same time, Israeli warplanes fired 2 missiles at family house in eastern Gaza City. As a result, five, including 2 women and 2 girls, were killed, and 6 others, including 3 children and 2 women, were injured. Those killed were identified as Khalil Khaled al-Behtaini (44), a commander at al-Quds Brigades; his wife Laila Majdi Mostafa al-Behtaini (42); his 4-year-old daughter Hajar; a 19-yeat-old girl namely Dania ‘Alaa ‘Ataa ‘Adas and her sister Eman (17), who succumbed to her injuries at around 10:00, noting that Dania and Eman lived adjacent to the targeted building.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes targeted at a 1-storey house in Al-Jeneina neighborhood in Rafah. As a result, Jihad Shaker Diab ‘AbdulHafez/Al-Ghanam, Secretary of al-Quds Brigades’ Military Council who was an amputee, and his wife Wafaa Nimr Tawfiq Al-Ghanam (62) were killed, and 6 others sustained various wounds, including a child and the targeted commander’s son. More details are available in PCHR’s press release.
In the same evening, Wael Muhammad Sabri al-Agha (34), and Saed Jawad ‘Abd Farwana (28), members of the Palestinian armed groups, were killed, and two other Palestinians were injured in an Israeli airstrike on a civilian car in al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Yunis.
On 10 May 2023, the bombing continued against agricultural lands, sites of Palestinian armed groups, and houses. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, including 3 civilians: 2 were children. PCHR is still investigating the nature of the missile that killed them and injured 36 others, including 8 women and 10 children.
Muhammad Yousef Abu Ta’ima (23) and ‘Alaa Maher Abu Ta’ima (28), who were members of the Palestinian armed groups, were killed in an airstrike that targeted them in an agricultural field in ‘Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis.
Meanwhile, Ayman Karam Saidam (26) and ‘Alam Al-Dein Sameer ‘Abdul-‘Aziz (23), who were members of the Palestinian armed groups, were killed, and 2 others were wounded as a result of an Israeli airstrike on an agricultural land in Al-Shokah village, east of Rafah. In addition, 8 Palestinians, including 3 children and 3 women, were wounded in an airstrike on an agricultural land near residential houses in Al-Salam neighborhood, south of Rafah.
Also, Ahmed Mohammed al-Shebaki (50) was killed and his wife Yusra Othman al-Shebaki (50) was seriously injured after a missile fell on their house in Qleibo area in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip. PCHR is still investigating the incident, as initial information raises suspicion that it might be a homemade rocket.
Moreover, Yazan Jawdat ‘Eliyan (16) and Layan Belal Mohammed Modawikh (8) were killed and 12 others, including 2 children and 2 women, were injured after a missile fell on a 5-storey house on al-Sahaba Street in Gaza City. PCHR is still investigating the incident, as initial information raises suspicion that it might be a homemade rocket.
In addition, 13 Palestinians were injured, including 2 women and 5 children; one seriously injured, after a missile fell on a house in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip. PCHR is still investigating the incident, as initial information raises suspicion that it might be a homemade rocket.
Meanwhile, IOF warplanes launched at least 2 missiles at a 3-storey house in al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Yunis. As a result, the house was destroyed and 4 families of 20, including children and women, were displaced. It should be noted that one of the area residents received a call to evacuate the nearby houses.
Moreover, IOF warplanes launched 2 missiles at a 3-storey house of 3 residential apartments in Beit Lahia, completely destroying it and rendering 4 families of 16, including 4 women and 8 children, homeless. It is worth noting that the house’s owner received a call from IOF only 40 minutes before targeting the house telling him to evacuate.
On 11 May 2023, 3 Palestinians, including 2 brothers; one of them a commander of Al-Quds Brigades, were killed and 7 other civilians, including a girl and 3 women; one was pregnant, were injured after IOF warplanes fired 3 missiles at a residential apartment on the 5th floor of a building in Hamad Residential Compound, west of Khan Yunis. Those killed were identified as: ‘Ali Hasan Ghali (50), member of al-Quds Brigades’ Military Council and head of the rocket launching unit; his brother Mahmoud (23); and their relative Mahmoud Waleed Mohammed ‘Abdul Jawaad (26). All of them were in the targeted apartment, while the other injuries were reported in nearby apartments. IOF announced that IOF and Shin Bet (Shabak) killed in a joint targeted operation the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s rocket launching force in the Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, 8 Palestinians, including a woman, was killed, and 35 others, including 6 children, were injured, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in IOF’s attacks in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 04 May 2023, IOF killed 3 members of Palestinian armed groups and wounded 3 civilians in an extrajudicial execution crime committed by IOF during their incursion into Nablus’s Old City. (Details available in PCHR’s press release).
On the same day, Eman Ziyad ‘Odah (26) was shot dead by IOF stationed in central Huwara village, southeast of Nablus, claiming that she stabbed an Israeli soldier, as IOF declared.
On 06 May 2023, two members of Palestinian armed groups namely Hamza Jamil Kharyoush (23) and Samer Salah Shaf’y (20) were killed and another Palestinian was injured while 2 others were arrested after one of them was injured during IOF’s incursion into Tulkarm refugee camp, where they cordoned off a house and clashed with Palestinian armed group members who were fortified inside the house.
On 10 May 2023, IOF killed 2 members of Palestinian armed groups namely Ahmed Jamal ‘Assaf (19), from Qabatiya village, and Rani Waleed Qatanat (24), from Jenin refugee camp, and wounded 2 other Palestinians; one seriously injured, during armed clashes that accompanied IOF’s incursion into Qabatiya village in Jenin. Before withdrawing, IOF arrested a Palestinian and confiscated a vehicle as the two Palestinians mentioned above were killed near it.
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF’s incursion into the Palestinian cities and villages, or IOF’s suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians. Twenty Palestinians, including 5 children, were injured in stone-throwing clashes with IOF during the latter’s incursion into several villages in Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem. Also, 12 Palestinians, including a child, were injured in Kafr Qaddum weakly peaceful protest, east of Qalqilya. Additionally, 2 Palestinians were injured near the annexation wall in Qalqilya when they were on they way to work in Israel.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks and aggression have killed 136 Palestinians, including 69 civilians; 24 of them were children, and 6 women, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 274 Palestinians, including 85 children, 21 women and 12 journalists, were injured.
Land razing, demolitions, and notices
IOF demolished 6 houses and 6 facilities, including a school that was demolished twice, while Israeli settlers built a settlement road on Palestinian lands in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 04 May 2023, IOF demolished a 70-sqm restaurant, which is a building built of steel, aluminum and wood in Al-Walaja village, northwest of Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
On 07 May 2023, IOF demolished al-Tahadi Primary School (5) in Jeb al-Deeb village, east of Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area C. Dozens of villagers tried to confront the demolition, but IOF attacked them and heavily fired live and rubber-coated bullets and teargas canisters at them, wounding 5 of them. The villagers later re-built the school, but IOF- re-demolished it for the 2nd time on 10 May 2023. It is worth noting that the 170-sqm school serving 60 students is funded by the European Union (EU), and it included 5 classrooms, a tent, a number of bathrooms, a playground, and a container used as a kitchen.
On the same day, IOF forced a Palestinian to self-demolish his 82-sqm house in Jabel Mukaber village in occupied East Jerusalem, pursuant to an Israeli municipal decision issued under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
Also, IOF demolished two 140-sqm houses in Al-Auja village in Jericho and razed a 150-sqm cement slab in al-Jiftlik village, north of Jericho.
On 08 May 2023, IOF notified to cease construction works in a concrete slab and 2 houses in Ma’een village in Hebron, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area C.
On 09 May 2023, IOF forced a Palestinian to self-demolish his under-construction house of 50 sqms in Ras al-‘Amoud neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, pursuant to an Israeli Municipal’s decision issued under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
On the same day, Israeli settlers, from “Havat Yair” settlement that is established on Deir Istiya village’s lands in western Salfit, built a new 700-meter-long settlement road leading to “Al-Majur” and “Nuwaitif” water springs on Palestinians’ lands in Qarawat Bani Hassan village.
On 10 May 2023, IOF demolished an animal barrack in Jabel Mukaber village and two 100-sqm shops in Wadi Qaddoum neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
On the same day, IOF demolished a room built of bricks and used as a commercial facility and a 120-meter-long wall in eastern Yatta in Hebron.
Also, IOF demolished a floor housing two 230-sqm apartments belonging to 2 brothers in Jabel Mukaber village in occupied East Jerusalem, rendering 9 persons, including 2 women and 5 children, homeless.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 69 families homeless, a total of 439 persons, including 86 women and 192 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 76 houses; 18 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 8 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 70 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts:
Three Palestinians were injured; 2 of them with live bullets, in settlers’ attacks in the West Bank. Details are as follows:
On 05 May 2023, Israeli settlers broke into Maghayir al-‘Abeed area in eastern Yatta in Hebron, where they made their sheep step on the agricultural crops. Later, an Israeli force arrived and detained a Palestinian whom the settlers were attempting to assault, while the settlers later left the area.
On 10 May 2023, 3 Palestinians were injured; 2 of them sustained live bullet injuries and the third sustained bruises in an attack carried out by at least 30 settlers on Deir Dibwan village, east of Ramallah.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 193 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them after being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
IOF incursions and arrests:
IOF carried out 204 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, at least 108 Palestinians were arrested, including 13 children and a writer. In the Gaza Strip, on 08 May 2023, IOF conducted a limited incursion into eastern al-Maghazi refugee camp.
So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 3,703 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2215 Palestinians were arrested, including 25 women and 265 children. Also, IOF arrested 34 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip; 12 were fishermen and 19 were trying to infiltrate into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 12 incursions.
Israeli closure and restrictions on freedom of movement and collective punishment policy:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.
At dawn on 09 May 2023, IOF closed Gaza crossings coinciding with its military offensive against various targets, including civilian objects. The closure of crossings threatens hundreds of patients’ lives and impairs the already frail health system due to the Israeli-imposed closure on Gaza Strip for 16 years. (Details available at PCHR’s press release).
In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continues to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 121 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, where they arrested 7 Palestinians.
This week, IOF closed the military checkpoints several times in occupied East Jerusalem and Bethlehem and blocked traffic.
So far in 2023,IOF have established 2204 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 116 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
4 Palestinians were killed, three of them in the West Bank, including 2 children, and the fourth was succumbed to injury in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli airstrike. Meanwhile, a Palestinian detainee who had been on a hunger strike in Israeli prisons died. In addition to 23 others, including 5 children, 3 women and a photojournalist were injured, and dozens of others suffocated in IOF attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 27 April 2023, Ahmad Ya’qoub Taha (39) was shot dead by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) after he got out of his vehicle nearby the Haris village roundabout in Salfit. An eyewitness told PCHR’s fieldworker that the vehicle crashed a concrete protection nearby the intersection where there is an Israeli military checkpoint. As a result, a group of Israeli soldiers approached him and asked him to get out of his vehicle and raise his hands. Suddenly, they opened fire at him, wounding him with several bullets which led to his death. This crime falls under an unjustified field execution as IOF claimed he was carrying a knife, but that is unconfirmed.
On 28 April 2023, Mustafa ‘Amer Sabbah (16) was shot with a live bullet in the chest during clashes with IOF in Tuqu’ town in Bethlehem. According to video footages and eyewitnesses, IOF fired at the child from a distance of 200 meters and as soon as he fell to the ground, IOF soldiers approached and examined his injury, then left him and moved hundreds of meters away from him, then the protestors managed to carry him and transfer him to a healthcare center in the town, where he was immediately pronounced dead.
On 01 May 2023, Mohammad Sa’eed Kamal (17) was killed, and 3 others, including a woman, were injured with live bullets and shrapnel by IOF, after the latter’s incursion into ‘Aqaba Jaber camp in Jericho. According to PCHR’s investigations, Kamal was shot with a live bullet in the head after he approached 50 meters closer to a residential building where IOF raided by IOF and the Israeli snipers stationed. Meanwhile, clashes and stone-throwing protests erupted in the Area. 3 young men tried to reach the Child and help him, but IOF soldiers fired at them, injuring two. Kamal fell on the ground and left to bleed for 10 minutes until he was taken to Ariha Governmental Hospital by an ambulance, where he was pronounced dead. As for the woman, she was wounded by shrapnel in the foot when IOF blew up the door of her house before raiding it and turning it into a sniper barracks.
On 02 May 2023, the death of the detainee Khader ‘Adnan, who has been in an 87-day- hunger strike in protest against his administrative detention by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), was announced. At dawn, ‘Adnan was found unconscious in his cell before his death was later declared after transferring him to the hospital. (Details available at PCHR’s press release).
On 02 May 2023, Hashel Mubarak Mubarak (58), was killed by a large stone in his chest due to flying rubble, after IOF warplanes bombed a site belonging to the Palestinian armed groups, southwest of Jablia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Mubarak was hit inside his tin-roofed house, 100 meters away from the targeted site. The bombing caused partial damage to a number of houses and a school in the area.
In addition, 5 civilians, including 3 children and 2 women, were wounded by shrapnel from a missile that fell on Al-Masryeen Street in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip.
At evening of the same day, and at dawn of the following day, IOF warplanes launched several missiles, most of which targeted Palestinian armed groups’ sites and agricultural lands, in different areas of the Gaza Strip, but no injuries were reported, after the Palestinian factions fired missiles towards Israeli gatherings, for the death of the detainee Khader ‘Adnan.
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages and suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians, and they were as follows:
On 28 April 2023, 3 Palestinians, including a child, were injured during clashes with IOF after raiding Jenin refugee camp. Before withdrawal, IOF arrested a Palestinian after breaking into his house, destroyed the contents of his brother’s café and billiards, as well as an ambulance was damaged during the clashes.
On the same day, 5 Palestinians, including a photojournalist, were injured with metal bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddoum weekly protest in northern Qalqilya
On 30 April 2023, a Palestinian child was injured in the right foot during clashes with IOF at the entrance to Al- ‘Arroub camp in Hebron, where IOF established a military observation point.
On 01 May 2023, a Palestinian was injured with two live bullets in the hand and back, and his condition was critical, during clashes with IOF after they stormed the town of Beit Jala, in Bethlehem. IOF raided the yard of Beit Jala Governmental Hospital, firing live bullets and tear gas canisters inside, claiming they were pursuing protestors, which led to the suffocation of a number of patients and their companions. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested an elder.
On02 May 2023, a Palestinian was injured with a live bullet in his right knee during clashes with IOF at the entrance to Al- ‘Arroub camp in Hebron.
On 03 May 2023, a Palestinian was seriously injured after being hit with 6 live bullets in the pelvis and the lower part of his body, by IOF while he was passing through a temporary military checkpoint set up at ‘Aqbat Hasna intersection, leading to the western countryside of Bethlehem, under the pretext of attempting to attack a soldier. The injured was transferred to the Arab Society Hospital in Beit Jala, for treatment.
In the Gaza Strip, on 01 May 2023, 2 Palestinians were injured with metal bullet, as a result of IOF firing bullets at several boats off the northern Gaza Strip. IOF fired at least 8 bullets at agricultural lands, and 7 bullets at fishermen’s boats in eastern and western Gaza Strip.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks killed 103 Palestinians, including 55 civilians; 18 of them were children, a woman, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 479 Palestinians, including 65 children, 6 women and 12 journalists, were injured.
Land razing, demolitions, and notices
IOF demolished a 6-storey residential building of 16 apartments, closed a carpentry shop, and confiscated a caravan a water tank in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 27 April 2023, IOF raided a carpentry workshop in the Old City of Hebron, and verbally notified its owner of its closure. Noting that the carpentry is located on the 2nd floor of an old building in the Old City Square, overlooking the closed area of Al-Shuhada Street and the outpost of Beit Hadassah.
On 28 April 2023, IOF confiscated a water tank in the village of Humsa al-Fawqa, in the northern Jordan Valley, east of Tubas.
On 30 April 2023, IOF confiscated a 60-sqm caravan in Qasr Hisham, in Jericho.
On 03 May 2023, IOF demolished a residential building of 6 floors containing 16 apartments, including 2 inhabited apartments, in Dahiyat al-Salam area in ‘Anata town, in East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction, displacing 11 citizens, including 4 children. IOF also beat a number of residents during the demolition process.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF made 67 families homeless, a total of 430 persons, including 48 women and 187 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 70 houses; 16 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 8 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 64 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition, cease-construction, and evacuation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Demolitions on grounds of collective punishment
On 03 May 2023, IOF demolished 2 houses in the village of Haris, north of Salfit, and the village of Hajjah, east of Qalqilya, as part of collective punishment policy adopted by IOF against Palestinian families, accusing them of carrying out acts of resistance against them, or against the settlers.
In the village of Haris, IOF destroyed a house for the family of a Palestinian who was killed on 15 November 2022, after carrying out a stabbing and run-over attack that killed 3 settlers. The demolition was carried out by detonating the 100-sqm 3-storey house, after its residents, a family of 8, were evacuated, causing damage to a number of nearby houses.
In the village of Hajjah, IOF demolished the detainee’s house who was accused of carrying out a stabbing attack against a settler on 15 October 2022. The demolition was carried out with bulldozers and led to the complete destruction of the 250-sqm 2-storey house and an annex, displacing a family of 5.
Settler-attacks
Settlers carried out 10 attacks on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, injuring many Palestinians and uprooting hundreds of trees in the West Bank. Details are as follows:
On 27 April 2023, settlers uprooted dozens of olive and grape seedlings, destroyed agricultural crops, and an irrigation network in the citizens’ agricultural lands in the village of Husan in Bethlehem.
On the same day, settlers attacked agricultural land in east of Qaryut town in Nablus, and cut down 42 olive trees.
On 28 April 2023, settlers severely beat 3 Palestinians, brothers, in the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, and threw stones at the ambulance that arrived to help them, smashing its windows.
On 29 April 2023, settlers, living in the settlement outpost established on the village of Al-Zuwaidin, south of Hebron, entered their livestock into the citizens’ lands, which were planted with winter grains. When the citizens arrived in the area in order to force the settlers to remove their livestock, large forces of the Israeli army arrived and confronted the citizens and arrested 4 of them.
On 30 April 2023, settlers attacked the Palestinians’ lands in the west of the town of Deir Sharaf in Nablus, and broke 261 olive, almond, fig, carob, pine and Kenya trees, and destroyed the 125-meter-long and 1.5-meter-high fence around the 47 dunums of land.
On the same day, two Palestinians were injured as a result of being beaten with sticks by a group of settlers in Burqa village in Nablus. In the evening, settlers attacked citizens’ lands east of the town of ‘Aqraba in Nablus, assaulted a farmer, and stole 14 sheep before running away towards the nearby “Jetit” settlement.
On 30 April 2023, settlers raided an agricultural land, east of the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, opened fire at the citizens, beat two citizens, bruised them, and seized their vehicle while they were working on the land.
On 01 May 2023, settlers attacked citizens’ lands in east of the town of Qaryut in Nablus, and cut down 12 olive trees.
On the same day, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet in the left shoulder by settlers’ fire after they assaulted him while he was guarding a building in Jabal Qbeibat, south of Jenin.
On 03 May 2023, settlers uprooted 820 apricot and jarnak trees, destroyed the water network, and demolished a tent on agricultural lands in the village of Burqa and the town of Sebastia in Nablus.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 190 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others were injured; most of them after being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians:
IOF carried out 207 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 96 Palestinians were arrested, including 10 children. In the Gaza Strip, IOF arrested 7 Palestinians; 5 tried to infiltrate through the fence, including 4 in east of Khan Yunis on 01-02 May 2023, and the fifth in east of Beit Hanoun on 27 April 2023, and 2 fishermen off the northern Strip. IOF also carried out a limited incursion into east of Khan Yunis on 01 May 2023.
So far in 2023, IOF conducted 3499 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2107 Palestinians were arrested, including 25 women and 252 children. Also, IOF arrested 34 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip; 12 were fishermen and 19 were trying to infiltrate into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 11 incursions.
Israeli closure and restrictions on freedom of movement:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.
In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 125 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 21 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
Since 22 April 2023, IOF have continued to impose a comprehensive siege on the city of Jericho, by closing its northern and southern entrances and the main entrance leading to it and its camps. IOF set up several military checkpoints and roadblocks, cement blocks and mounds on the roads, where soldiers are stationed, and they conduct continuous inspections. On 01 May 2023, IOF installed 3 military iron gates at the main entrances to the city; north, south and east. Until now, IOF continue to establish temporary military checkpoints at the main entrances and exits of the City. As the latter also closed the main and secondary roads towards the central Jordan Valley, and set up gates and cement blocks at all the Jordan Valley intersections.
During the week, IOF closed the checkpoints in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem for several times, causing traffic obstruction.
So far in 2023, IOF established 2083 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 109 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
[1] This report covers 2 weeks due to ‘Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Violation of right to life and bodily integrity:
Two Palestinians were killed, and 23 others were injured, including 4 children, a woman and a paramedic, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attacks in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. In the Gaza Strip, several houses and facilities sustained material damage due to Israeli airstrikes. Details are as follows:
On 24 April 2023, Suliman ‘Ayish ‘Owaid (22) succumbed to his wounds only hours after being arrested. ‘Owaid and 3 other Palestinians were wounded by an Israeli Special Force when the latter sneaked into ‘Aqabat Jaber refugee camp in Jericho. According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at around 03:14, an Israeli Special Force sneaked via a cargo truck and a Volkswagen Caravelle van into the camp and opened fire at a group of Palestinian young men present in front of a house, wounding 4 of them. The young men managed to evacuate two of those injured to Jericho Hospital, while the 2 others remained on the ground and the Special Force pulled them to an empty warehouse in the area, where they were stripped of their clothes, arrested, and taken away after 40 minutes. At approximately 20:30, IOF declared that death of one the wounded namely Suliman ‘Owaid and kept his body.
On the same day, Hatem As’ad Abu Najma (39), from Beit Safafa village in occupied East Jerusalem, was killed after being shot with several live bullets by an Israeli settler, claiming that he carried out a run-over attack at Agribous intersection adjacent to Machaneh Yehudah Market in central West Jerusalem
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF’s incursion into the Palestinian cities and villages, or IOF’s suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians, and they were as follows:
On 14 April 2023, 3 Palestinians, including a child, were shot with rubber-coated bullets in their limbs during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddoum weekly protest in northern Qalqilya.
On 17 April 2023, a Palestinian was shot with a live bullet in his abdomen by IOF in Neve Ya’akov neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext that he set an Israeli vehicle ablaze in the area, according to a statement by the Israeli police.
On 18 April 2023, a child was shot with a live bullet in his foot during clashes with IOF after the latter’s incursion into Beit Ummar village in Hebron. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 3 Palestinians, including a child.
On the same day, 8 Palestinians were injured by IOF fire during clashes that accompanied the latter’s incursion into Jenin refugee camp. Due to the IOF shooting, the main power transformer in the camp was damaged and led to a power outage. Also, the shooting hit the walls of an UNRWA Clinic in the camp causing damage to the building and an ambulance that tried to evacuate those injured. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 3 Palestinians and confiscated a car belonging to one of the arrestees.
Moreover, a Palestinian woman was injured with 2 live bullets in her shoulder and leg after IOF opened fire at her claiming that she carried out a stabbing attack that injured an Israeli settler near Gush Etzion settlement intersection in southern Bethlehem. The wounded woman was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in West Jerusalem for treatment while she is under arrest.
Also, a Palestinian sustained bruises after being severely beaten by IOF who stopped his vehicle at a checkpoint at the northern entrance to Jericho.
On 21 April 2023, 3 Palestinians were shot with live and rubber-coated bullets, and others suffocated during clashes with IOF after the latter’s incursion into Beita village, southeast of Nablus, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
On 24 April 2023, 3 Palestinians, including 2 children and a paramedic, were shot with rubber-coated bullets, and hit with a stun grenade during IOF’s suppression of Palestinians who tried to stop IOF’s confiscation of a vehicle in Qarawat Bani Hassan village, west of Salfit.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 11 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, and 9 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the Western Gaza shores.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks killed 99 Palestinians, including 51 civilians; 16 of them were children and 1 woman, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 7 killed by settlers, and one died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 456 Palestinians, including 60 children, 3 women and 11 journalists, were injured.
Land razing, demolitions, and notices
IOF demolished 6 shops, confiscated lands and vehicles, and handed dozens of cease-construction notices in the West Bank. Details are as follows:
On 16 April 2023, IOF confiscated a Tucson SUV near al-Jalama military checkpoint in northern Jenin.
On 18 April 2023, IOF demolished 6 closed shops with a JCB digger in the Old Market in Hebron’s Old City. It is worth noting that Israeli authorities had declared that area as a closed military zone in 2002, and forced the shops’ owners to close them completely, as there are about 30 shops in the market.
On 19 April 2023, IOF handed 3 cease-construction notices to 3 residential houses in Ni’lin village, west of Ramallah, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
On the same day, IOF issued a military order to seize 53 dunums for military purposes in Sanniriya village in southern Qalqilya. Upon the order, the seizure will be in force until the end of 2027, and might be renewed similar to previous orders.
On 20 April 2023, the Israeli Civil Administration fixed an order to confiscate a dunum of land in order to expand a settlement road in Al-Khader village, southwest of Bethlehem.
On the same day, IOF confiscated a bobcat bulldozer while working in Kafr ad-Dik village, under the pretext of working in Area C.
Also, IOF confiscated a tractor in Deir Ballut village, west of Salfit, under the pretext of being in Area C.
On 24 April 2023, IOF prevented a Palestinian from levelling his land by a bulldozer to establish a parking lot near a road connecting Nabi Ilyas village with Jayyous village in eastern Qalqilya, under the pretext of working in Area C.
On 25 April 2023, IOF handed 23 cease-construction notices to inhabited houses, others under-construction and a mosque in Az-Zawiya village, west of Salfit.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF made 64 families homeless, a total of 406 persons, including 81 women and 183 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 67 houses; 16 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 6 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 64 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Settler-attacks on Palestinian civilians and their properties:
Israeli settlers seized a house and assaulted Palestinians and their vehicles in 6 attacks in the West Bank. Details are as follows:
On 13 April 2023, Israeli settlers seized an agricultural house near an IOF camp, south of Al-Mazra’a al- Gharbiyia village, north of Ramallah. The settlers fixed an Israeli flag on the house, placed a tent in its yard, stayed inside it, and prevented its owners from entering it.
On 14 April 2023, Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian shepherds in pastoral land in eastern Yatta in Hebron and tried to beat them with sticks. IOF then arrived, detained the shepherds and ordered them to leave.
On 15 April 2023, Israeli settlers, who gathered near the eastern entrance to Jab’a village in Bethlehem, threw stones at Palestinians and their vehicles, breaking windows of a vehicle and wounding its driver with a stone in his head.
On 18 April 2023, Israeli settlers broke into agricultural lands in Al-Khader village in Bethlehem, assaulted a number of Palestinians and wounded one of them.
On 19 April 2023, Israeli settlers broke into Palestinian lands in Kisan village, east of Bethlehem, damaged its property and stole 3 sheep.
On 22 April 2023, Israeli settlers punctured tries of an agricultural tractor in Turmus Ayya village, east of Ramallah, after putting nails on the road used by the farmers and other Palestinians.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 180 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them after being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
Violations of freedom of worship
On 15 April 2023, IOF intensified their deployment around occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City and in its alleys, closing some of its gates with iron barriers, and turned it into a military barrack. They hindered the access of thousands of Christian worshipers to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City to participate in the celebrations of Holy Saturday, which precedes Easter.
Moreover, IOF suppressed hundreds of those participating in the celebrations, pushed them and beat them in several areas after they tried to cross the iron barriers established by the Israeli police on all occupied East Jerusalem’s roads. At around 13:00 with the start of the three Orthodox churches’ celebrations of the Holy Saturday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, thousands of Christians were prevented from passing through these barriers, causing a stampede, during which IOF assaulted some of the protesters, including foreign pilgrims, in the church outside yard.
On 24 April 2023, IOF banned raising Ish’a prayer call “adhan” at al-Aqsa Mosque and prevented the muezzin “an official who proclaims the call for prayer” from completing the call, under the pretext of settler celebrations in the Western Wall of al-Aqsa Mosque.
On 25 April 2023, IOF suppressed dozens of Palestinian worshipers present near Bab al-Rahma (Golden Gate) at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, assaulted, pushed and beat them and forcibly dispersed them. They also arrested a Turkish tourist who was with the worshipers and violently assaulted her. It should be noted that since 22 April 2023, IOF have continued its attacks at Bab al-Rahma Mosque, which they raided several times while wearing shoes. IOF prevented the prayer call at al-Rahma Mosque, damaged the electricity networks, loudspeakers and lightings, took its contents out, expelled the worshipers, and confiscated their IDs.
IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians:
IOF carried out 294 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, at least 158 Palestinians were arrested, including 10 children and 2 women. In the Gaza Strip, on 16 April 2023, IOF arrested 4 fishermen and confiscated their fishing boat after intercepting it while sailing within 8 nautical miles off Rafah Shore. Three of the fishermen were released on the next day while the fourth was released a week later. Also, on 23 April 2023, IOF conducted a limited incursion into eastern Rafah.
So far in 2023, IOF conducted 3292 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2011 Palestinians were arrested, including 25 women and 242 children. Also, IOF arrested 27 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including 10 fishermen and 14 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 10 incursions.
Israeli closure and restrictions on freedom of movement and collective punishment policy:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.
IOF declared a comprehensive closure on the West Bank and closed all crossings with the Gaza Strip from 24 to 25 April 2023, under the pretext of the “Independence Day” in Israel and the commemoration of the dead Israeli soldiers.
In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continues to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 155 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, where they arrested 14 Palestinians.
For the fifth week in a row, IOF continues to impose a closure on Huwara village, southeast of Nablus, after announcing it a “closed military zone” on 25 March 2023, and imposed a cordon on it. They also closed the internal streets with sand berms, established more military checkpoints and placed cement cubes on the village’s main street, as part of a collective punishment policy following the shooting attack that targeted IOF in the village.
This week, IOF closed the military checkpoints several times in occupied East Jerusalem and Bethlehem and blocked traffic.
So far in 2023,IOF established 1958 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 88 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
Two Palestinians were martyred by the Zionist gunfire on Tuesday during a clash in Deir Al-Hatab village in eastern Nablus.
The Israeli occupation forces detained the bodies of the two martyrs, claiming that they had opened fire at Elon Moreh settlement.
A fresh wave of violent clashes broke out early this morning between Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli occupation forces in the vicinity of Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian media reported that the occupation army dispatched a force to the outskirts of the camp, which then deployed snipers on rooftops, leading to the violent confrontations.
Several people were reportedly injured during this conflict. The occupation forces arrested the son of Maher Turkman, who is accused of carrying out the first Jordan Valley operation along with his martyred son and captive nephew.
In the midst of this, Palestinian resistance fighters reportedly detonated an explosive device during the occupation’s attempted storming, causing direct casualties.
Zionist Occupation Authorities Ban Settlers from Storming Al-Aqsa till End of Ramadan
The Zionist settlers will be banned from the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem) until the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Tuesday.
Before the decision, terrorist settler attacks on Al-Aqsa continued, as hundreds began at dawn today storming the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The settlers were led by former Knesset member Yehuda Glick and were attempting to enter the Mosque during the “Jewish Passover holiday”.
The occupation forces stationed at the mosque gates continued to prevent many worshippers from entering to perform the Fajr prayer. While the Mosque was open, those under 50 years old were not allowed to enter, according to one of its guards.
Meanwhile, Hamas Resistance Movement called on Palestinians to perform religious observance (Itikaf) at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the last ten days of the Holy month of Ramadan, warning the Israeli enemy that any folly against the Holy Shrine would destabilize the whole region.
In recent weeks, calls to storm Al-Aqsa have grown, with some illegal settler groups offering financial rewards for those who could do so.
Furthermore, dozens of illegal Israeli settlers stormed the Mosque on Monday under heavy protection from Israeli occupation forces.
The Palestinians have long been subjected to land seizures, home demolitions, and general disruption of their daily lives. The current situation with the Al-Aqsa Mosque is yet another flashpoint in this ongoing conflict.
The storming of the Mosque by Israeli occupation forces has been condemned by many around the world.
UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 