In just two weeks between August 16 and September 1, the Israeli occupation forces killed four Palestinians, one of them succumbed to earlier wounds, detained at least 250 others, and demolished 55 Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the biweekly Protection of Civilians Report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory.
It said that on 1 September, one Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Ramallah city during a search and arrest operation.
On 19 August, a 53-year-old Palestinian man was shot and killed in an Israeli search and arrest operation in Tubas city. The man was passing by when he was shot in the head and killed.
On 18 August, an 18-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces accompanying Israeli settlers to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus city. So far in 2022, Israeli forces have killed three Palestinians, including one child, and have injured more than 400 Palestinians, while they were accompanying Israeli settlers to this site.
A 25-year-old Palestinian man succumbed to wounds sustained on 9 August, when Israeli forces shot him in Nablus city during a military operation. Three other Palestinians, including one boy, were killed on that day.
This death brings to 75 the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the beginning of the year.
During the two-week reporting period, Israeli forces conducted a total of 108 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 136 Palestinians in the West Bank. Across the West Bank, said OCHA.
In total, 248 Palestinians, including at least 42 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank. 103 of the injuries were recorded near Beita and Beit Dajan (both in Nablus), and Kafr Qaddum (Qalqilya) in anti-settlement protests. Another 39 Palestinians were injured during search-and-arrest operations and 31 additional injuries were reported following the raid on the offices of civil society organizations as Israeli forces fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at Palestinians who threw stones in protest at the Israeli military raid.
On 18 August, Israeli forces raided and closed the offices of seven Palestinian civil society organizations in the West Bank designated in 2020 and 2021 by the Israeli occupation authorities as “terrorist” and/or “unlawful” groups. Their closure undermines humanitarian, development, and human rights work in the occupied Palestinian territory, said OCHA, adding that UN and non-UN entities have called on the Israeli government to allow human rights and humanitarian organizations to continue their work unhindered.
The Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced people to demolish 55 Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; ten of the structures were funded by donors, according to the OCHA Protection of Civilians Report. As a result, 61 people, including 31 children, were displaced, and the livelihoods of about 200 others were affected.
Some 47 of the structures were in Area C, including seven in al Jiftlik al-Shuneh near Jericho, in a designated ‘firing zone’ for Israeli military training, and where Palestinian communities are at risk of forcible transfer. Eight other structures were demolished in East Jerusalem, including five destroyed by their owners to avoid paying fines imposed by Israeli authorities when they conduct the demolitions.
In addition, Israeli forces restricted the movement of Palestinians in several locations across the West Bank. On 20 August, Israeli forces blocked with earth mounds the entrances to Silwad and closed the metal gates to Ein Yabrud (both in Ramallah), hindering the access of about 9,000 Palestinians to livelihoods and services and forcing long detours.
On 28 August, Israeli forces at Jinba checkpoint detained for about four hours nine school staff who were on their way to Jinba school ahead of the opening of the academic year. Their vehicle was confiscated, and the driver was taken to a nearby military base for questioning. On the same day, the teachers of al Fakhiet school who were traveling into the area from Yatta were stopped by Israeli forces at a flying checkpoint that was erected near the entrance of Khirbet al Fakhiet. The teachers were forced to return back to Yatta.
Fixed and flying checkpoints in the area have disrupted the access of teachers and students to school, in some cases forcing them to walk long distances to avoid the checkpoints, said the OCHA report.
Israeli settlers also injured two Palestinians and damaged Palestinian property in 12 instances, said OCHA.
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