Days of Palestine – Jerusalem

In response to the Israeli crimes against Palestinians, a Palestinian freedom fighter attacked Saturday night settler’s bus in occupied Jerusalem.

Hebrew media claimed that the 8 settlers were injured.

The incident came in light of the sharp increase in the Israeli occupation forces and settlers’ violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club revealed on Monday, July 8, that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) killed 30 Palestinians and arrested 400 others in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin since the start of 2022.

IOF killed on Tuesday, July, 9, three Palestinians during a raid centered on a house in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday.

This past weekend, the Israeli occupation launched 3-day deadly aggression on Gaza, killing 49 Palestinians, including 17 children, and injuring over 360 civilians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has expressed alarm at the high number of Palestinians, particularly children, killed and injured by Israeli forces in occupied Palestinian territory so far this year.

“Inflicting hurt on any child during the course of conflict is deeply disturbing, and the killing and maiming of so many children this year is unconscionable,” said Bachelet in a statement issued on Thursday.

Nineteen Palestinian children were killed in occupied Palestinian territory in the last week alone, bringing the death toll of children since the start of the year to 37, according to the statement.

1/2 Alarmed by both 16 y/o children, Hussein Taha in Nablus & Momen Jaber in Hebron, shot dead by ISF. Under intl law, use of force must be proportionate & applied as last resort to protect life. The killings should be immediately investigated & those responsible held accountable

— EU and Palestinians (@EUpalestinians) August 12, 2022

Seventeen of the children were killed during last weekend’s aggression on Gaza by Israeli forces, and two more children were killed on Tuesday in Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank.

The statement noted that while the ceasefire for the latest aggression on Gaza is holding, tensions remain very high in the West Bank, where four Palestinians were killed and 90 others were injured by live ammunition on August 9.

The toll of civilian casualties in the Israeli attack on Gaza “was heavy”, the UN rights chief said.

“The situation in Palestine is extremely fragile, and events such as in Nablus risk igniting further hostilities in Gaza. The utmost restraint is necessary to prevent further bloodshed, including by ensuring that firearms are used strictly in compliance with international standards,” the UN rights Chief said.

“International humanitarian law is clear. Launching an attack that may be expected to incidentally kill or injure civilians, or damage civilian objects, in a disproportionate manner to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited. Such attacks must stop,” Bachelet added.

Nearly two-thirds of the 360 Palestinians reported injured in the Israeli offensive were civilians, including 151 children, 58 women, and 19 older people, the UN said.

Bachelet also said that the widespread use of live ammunition by Israeli forces in its operations in the occupied West Bank, including the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem, had led to an alarming number of Palestinians being killed.

The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory has so far this year documented the killing of 74 Palestinians, including 20 children. In many incidents, Israeli forces used lethal force in a manner that appeared to be in violation of international human rights law, she added.

Bachelet also called for speedy, independent, impartial, and transparent investigations into all incidents where any person was killed or injured, and she lamented what she described as a “climate of impunity” and “the long-standing violations” that powered “the cycle of violence” in the occupied territories.

She said that “An almost total lack of accountability persists in the occupied Palestinian territory – whether for violations of international humanitarian law by all parties in hostilities in Gaza, or for recurring Israeli violations of international human rights law and the law of occupation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, including incidents of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force.”