Violation of right to life and bodily integrity:
11 Palestinians, including 4 civilians; one of them was a child, were shot dead by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), in addition to a teenager affiliated with the Palestinian armed groups succumbed to previous injuries. Meanwhile, 98 others, including 16 children and 3 journalists, were shot by IOF in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and dozens of others suffocated in IOF attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Moreover, a teenager was injured in the Gaza Stip. Details are as follows:
On 20 February 2023, Montaser Mohammed Al-Shawwa (17), a resident of Balata refugee camp in Nablus and member of the Palestinian armed groups, succumbed to his injuries by IOF’s fire on 08 February 2023 during clashes that accompanied IOF’s raid into eastern Nabuls.
On 22 February 2023, IOF killed 10 Palestinians, including 3 civilians; one of them was a child, and wounded 90 others, including 15 children, 3 journalists and 9 in serious condition: one was a child, during IOF’s raid into Nablus’s Old City. (Details available at PCHR’s press release) Later after the press release, ‘Anan Shawkant ‘Ali ‘Ennab (66) died of severe suffocation due to tear gas canisters fired by IOF during the latter’s raid into Nablus.
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of IOF’s excessive use of force that accompanied incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians, and they were as follows:
On 16 February 2023, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet in his lower limbs during confrontations with IOF in Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested Palestinians.
On 17 February 2023, a child was wounded with a rubber-coated bullet in his foot during clashes with IOF in ‘Izzariya village in East Jerusalem.
On the same day, 2 Palestinians and an international solidarity activist were wounded with rubber-coated metal bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddoum weekly protest in northern Qalqilya. Also, a young man was wounded in his right thigh during confrontations with IOF after the latter’s suppression of a demonstration supporting the detainees in Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron.
On 18 February 2023, IOF suppressed hundreds of Palestinians who gathered in Bab Al-‘Amoud area, in the center of East Jerusalem, to commemorate the anniversary of al-Israa’ and Al Mi’raj, an occasion celebrated by Muslims of Prophet Mohammed’s Night Journey to ascend to Heaven . IOF forcibly dispersed them from Bab Al- ‘Amoud square and its staircase, beat up the teenagers and young men, and chased them for several hours in the nearby streets, arresting 16 Palestinians, including 13 children.
On 22 February 2023, 2 Palestinians were shot; one in the foot, the other in the pelvis, while others suffocated during confrontations with IOF in the Nabi Saleh village in Ramallah.
On the same day, a person with a disability sustained fractures and bruises, and dozens suffocated during clashes with IOF in Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron, after protests broke out against IOF’s crimes in Nablus.
On 17 February 2023, a 19-year-old Palestinian was injured with a live bullet in the pelvis by IOF when the latter opened fire at the demonstrators gathered at a distance of 50 meters, west of the barbed wire, east of Al-Bureij camp, in the central Gaza Strip.
In the Gaza Strip this week, 11 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, and 3 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the Western Gaza shores.
” So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 62 Palestinians, including 31 civilians; 11 of them were children and a woman, while the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 4 killed by settlers, and one died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 286 Palestinians, including 39 children and 7 journalists, were injured.
Land razing, demolitions, and notices
IOF demolished 6 houses, rendering 4 families of 18, including 5 women and 4 children homeless, while they handed house demolition notices, and confiscated a vehicle and equipment in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 16 February 2023, IOF forced a Palestinian to self-demolish his 100-sqm house in Wadi Qaddum neighborhood, in East Jerusalem, upon an Israeli municipal decision issued under the pretext of unlicensed construction, displacing 3 persons, including a woman.
On 21 February 2023, IOF notified 4 under-construction houses of demolition within 96 hours, and to stop construction works in a residential caravan in ‘Aqaba village in Tubas.
On the same day, the Israeli authorities placed banners at the entrance to Banat Ber area of 12 dunums, west of Salfit, in a prelude to confiscate it and turn it into a nature reserve. It should be noted that the area is subject to repeated attacks by settlers, and IOF had previously established an iron detector gate at its entrance.
On 22 February 2023, IOF demolished 3 residential houses; one was under-construction, 2 agricultural barracks, stone walls, and razed a dirt street in Al-Walaja village in Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction, rendering 2 families of 9, including 3 women and 4 children, homeless.
On the same day, IOF demolished a 150-sqm 2-story house and handed 20 demolition notices to houses and tourist villas in Al-Dyouk Al-Tahta village in Jericho. Also, IOF demolished a 72-sqm residential house in Ithna village, west of Hebron, displacing a family of 6.
Moreover, IOF confiscated a Golf car during their raid into ‘Urif village in addition to a stone cutting saw, equipment, and a fixed drilling machine from 2 workshops in Nablus.
” Since the beginning of 2023, IOF made 48 families homeless, a total of 295 persons, including 60 women and 130 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 49 houses; 12 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 6 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 42 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
Settlers, protected by IOF, carried out 4 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:
On 17 February 2023, a Palestinian sustained injuries and bruises after being attacked by a settler who broke into an agricultural land in Husan village, west of Bethlehem.
On the same day, settlers, protected by IOF, uprooted 70 olive trees in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.
On 18 February 2023, a child was injured when settlers threw stones at Palestinian houses and vehicles on Al-Shuhada Street, Al-‘Amyan Alley, and Al-Shalala Old Street in central Hebron. Settlers also smashed the windows of Palestinian vehicles, after topping the roofs of houses in central Hebron.
On 21 February 2023, settlers uprooted 65 olive seedlings in Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya village in Nablus. This was the second time the settlers uproot seedlings in the area.
” Since the beginning of the year, settlers conducted at least 39 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property.
Collective Punishment
On 16 February 2023, IOF blew up a 220-sqm residential apartment in a 4-storey building in the eastern neighborhood of Hebron, as part of the collective punishment policy against the families of Palestinians allegedly accused of carrying out attacks against IOF and/or settlers. The apartment belongs to the family of Mohammad Kamal Al-Ja’bari who was killed on 29 October 2022, at the entrance to Givat Hafot settlement, east of Hebron, after carrying out a shooting attack that killed 2 settlers. The explosion completely destroyed the apartment on the fourth floor and severely damaged the rest of the 5 residential apartments in the building, rendering them uninhabitable and thereby displacing 6 families of 35, including 6 women and 23 children.
” Since the beginning of the year, this is the sixth house destroyed by IOF as part of the collective punishment policy.
On 20 February 2023, IOF broke into houses of detainees Osama Al-Taweel and ‘Abdul-Kamel Jouri, who were detained on 13 February 2023. IOF took the measurements of the 2 houses on Al-Marij Street, west of Nablus, in a prelude to demolish them as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against the Palestinians allegedly accused of conducting attacks against IOF and/or against the settlers.
Seizure of Money
On 16 February 2023, IOF seized sums of money and gold jewellery from the homes of former and current Palestinian detainees from occupied East Jerusalem and froze their bank accounts. This precedent came after the Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant issued a decision on 10 February 2022 imposing penalties against current and former Palestinian detainees and their families. (Details available at PCHR’s press release). The seizure recurred several times this week with current and former detainees from East Jerusalem.
IOF incursions and arrests
IOF carried out 187 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, 111 Palestinians were arrested, including 27 children. In the Gaza Strip, IOF arrested 4 fishermen and confiscated their fishing boat after Israeli naval forces surrounded a fishing boat sailing within 1.5 nautical miles off northwestern Beit Lahia shore in the northern Gaza Strip. (Details available at PCHR’s press release).
” So far in 2023, IOF conducted 1581 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 841 Palestinians were arrested, including 16 women and 111 children. Also, IOF arrested 8 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip; 6 were fishermen and 2 were trying to infiltrate into Israel.
Israeli closure and restrictions on freedom of movement:
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 15-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 118 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians, including a child, at those checkpoints.
During this week, IOF closed Jerusalem and Bethlehem checkpoints several times, and reopened them later.
” So far in 2023, IOF established 948 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 48 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
A version of this article first appeared in Arabic. Read it here.
Source: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
