OCHA: Seven Palestinians Killed by Israeli Gunfire Since 8 November

Jerusalem, MINA – Israeli army killed five Palestinians including four children, since November 8 in the occupied West Bank as a sixth Palestinian died of wounds sustained three months earlier from army gunfire, and a seventh was shot and killed following an attack near an Israeli settlement, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory, Wafa reported on Sunday.

It said in its biweekly Protection of Civilians Report covering the period since 8 November that measured as a monthly average, 2022 is the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations started systematically counting fatalities in 2005, with 129 Palestinians killed so far this year.

One of the children, a 15-year-old boy, was shot and killed on 9 November during clashes in Nablus City after Israeli settlers and right-wing members of the Israeli parliament stormed Joseph’s Tomb under army protection. The presence of the settlers triggered confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli forces and also resulted in the injury of 60 Palestinians.

Another child, 16 years old, was also shot and killed on November 23 during a similar army and settlers raid of Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, and a 22-year-old youth was also shot and killed during the same raid after soldiers opened fire at Palestinians protesting the presence of the settlers in their city.

Joseph’s Tomb has seen recurrent confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli forces escorting Israeli settlers over the years. Since the beginning of 2022, Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians, including two children, and have injured 525, while accompanying Israeli settlers to the site.

Israeli forces also shot and killed two Palestinian children and injured five others during two search-and-arrest operations in Ramallah and Jenin refugee camp. On 14 November, a 15-year-old Palestinian girl was killed, and another man was injured when soldiers opened fire at a car in Beitunia, near Ramallah. The UN Special Coordinator, Tor Wennesland, called on Israel to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into the incident.

On 21 November, a 17-year-old Palestinian child was killed while he was on his way to school, and three others were injured during an Israeli army assault near Jenin refugee camp.

Since the beginning of the year, Israeli forces have shot and killed 66 Palestinians, including 16 children, during search-and-arrest operations across the West Bank; 20 of the fatalities have been in Jenin refugee camp.

On 10 November, Israeli forces shot and fatally injured with live ammunition a 29-year-old Palestinian man, who was attempting to reach his workplace in Israel through a breach in the Barrier near Anin village in the Jenin district. According to official medical sources, the man sustained severe blood loss when he was detained at an Israeli military base for at least one hour, delaying his transfer to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

This is the fourth Palestinian worker killed while trying to cross through unofficial openings in the Barrier since the beginning of 2022. In another incident, Israeli forces fired live ammunition toward a Palestinian trying to cross through breaches in the Barrier in Tulkarm while trying to reach his workplace in Israel.

On 23 November, a Palestinian succumbed to his wounds sustained from Israeli forces’ gunfire during an Israeli search and arrest operation in the old city of Nablus on 24 July.

A 19-year-old Palestinian, who killed three Israelis and injured another three in a stabbing and ramming attack in and around the illegal Ariel settlement, near Salfit, was subsequently killed by Israeli forces.

Overall, Israeli forces conducted 110 search-and-arrest operations and detained 159 Palestinians, including at least seven children, across the West Bank and blocked the main entrances of four towns, disrupting the access of thousands of Palestinians to livelihoods and services. Between January and 21 November 2022, more than 500 Palestinians have been detained on average every month in the West Bank.

The Israeli authorities demolished 33 Palestinian-owned structures and confiscated three others, in the West Bank, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. As a result, 40 people, including 20 children, were displaced, and the livelihoods of more than 120 others were affected. Thirty-five of the targeted structures were located in Area C, including eight structures demolished based on the Israeli Military Order (1797), which provides only a 96-hour notice and very limited grounds for legally challenging a demolition. The other residential structure was demolished by the Jerusalem Municipality in Sur Bahir, displacing one household that comprises four people, including two children.

On 23 November, the Israeli authorities demolished the Isfey al Fauqa donor-funded school in Masafer Yatta in southern Hebron after the Israeli High Court canceled a temporary injunction prohibiting demolition. The school served 21 students from three different communities. Isfey al Fauqa is one of 13 herding communities located in an area designated by the Israeli military as a ‘Firing Zone 918’ in Masafer Yatta, home to around 1,150 Palestinians half of whom are children.

Israeli settlers injured eight Palestinians, including two children, in seven separate incidents; and caused damage to Palestinian property in 24 instances since November 8.

On three occasions on 18 and 19 November, about 35,000 Israeli settlers and other groups held a religious festival in the H2 area of Hebron city and were allowed to exit the checkpoints to reach the H1 area under Palestinian Authority control, where they attacked and caused damage to Palestinian properties.

In three other incidents, Israeli settlers stole 170 olive saplings belonging to a Palestinian farmer, vandalized some 100 olive trees after entering Palestinian land with their livestock, and cut down nine trees, including four that were 15 years old. In seven separate incidents, two donor-funded agricultural-related structures, two water tanks, livestock, and stone fences were all damaged by settlers. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)