OCHA: Israeli Forces Kill 8 Palestinians in Two Weeks

Jerusalem, MINA – The Israeli occupation forces shot and killed eight Palestinians, injured 140 others, and demolished 29 Palestinian-owned buildings, two of them punitively, displacing 62 people, including 28 children, according to the bi-weekly Protection of Civilians report published yesterday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory covering the period between 22 February and 9 March.

On 9 March, a 23-year-old Palestinian man succumbed to wounds sustained on 2 March when Israeli forces shot him near Burqa village, in the northern West Bank Nablus district, Wafa reported on Saturday.

On 22 February, a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed near al Khader in Bethlehem, on 1 March, a 19-year-old youth was shot and killed near Beit Fajjar also near Bethlehem; and on 6 March, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was shot in Abu Dis, east of occupied Jerusalem.

Also on 6 and 7 March, in the Old City of Jerusalem, two Palestinians, 19 and 22 years old, stabbed and injured three Israeli policemen and were subsequently shot and killed by Israeli police. One of the assailants was reportedly shot while he was lying on the ground wounded after being initially shot. The bodies of both assailants are withheld by the Israeli authorities.

Another two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces on 1 March in Jenin refugee camp.

At the same time, 140 Palestinians, including 20 children, were injured by Israeli occupation forces across the West Bank, said the UN report. Almost half of the injuries (63) were recorded near Beita and Beit Dajan, both in the Nablus district, Kafr Qaddum, near Qalqilya, the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and in the H2 area of Hebron city, in demonstrations against settlements and in solidarity with families at risk of forced eviction.

Israeli forces also carried out 82 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 183 Palestinians during the reporting period, said OCHA.

On 7 March, Israeli occupation forces demolished on punitive grounds two residences in Silat al Harthiya village, near Jenin, belonging to the families of two Palestinians prosecuted for killing an Israeli settler on 16 December 2021, displacing 12 people, including six children. Another home was demolished in the same village in connection with the same incident on 14 February, displacing 15 people; during ensuing clashes, Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old boy.

Additionally, the Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced owners to demolish 27 Palestinian homes and other structures in Area C of the occupied West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. As a result, 50 people were displaced, including 22 children, and the livelihoods of more than 140 others were affected. Sixteen of the structures, including one which had been provided as humanitarian assistance, were in Area C, and 11 in East Jerusalem.

Also during the reporting period, Israeli occupation forces blocked the main entrances to five Palestinian villages in the northern West Bank, disrupting the access of tens of thousands to livelihoods and services.

OCHA said Israeli settlers injured two Palestinians and damaged Palestinian property in 20 instances during the two-week reporting period. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)