Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 23 February - 7 March 2016

10 Mar 2016

Latest developments

On 8 and 9 March, six Palestinian attacks against Israelis were reported in Israel and Jerusalem. As a result seven people, including six of the suspected Palestinian perpetrators, were killed and 15 were injured.
On 9 March, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy, after an attempted stabbing attack near Az Zawiya village (Salfit).

Highlights

Nine Palestinian attacks or alleged attacks against Israelis and Israeli settlers were reported during the two-week period, resulting in the injury of seven Israelis; four of the suspected perpetrators were shot and killed at the scene, including a 17-years-old boy and one woman (34 years old), while another Palestinian man was injured and a 14-year-old girl arrested. The incidents included seven stabbings or alleged stabbing attempts near the Ramallah DCO checkpoint, Burin village (Nablus), Al ‘Auja village (Jericho); in Ma’ale Adumim (Jerusalem) and Eli (Nablus) settlements; and at Gush Etzion junction, near Bethlehem; a suspected ramming attack also at Gush Etzion junction (Bethlehem); and a shooting attack at an Israeli police vehicle near Ariel settlement (Salfit). Since the beginning of the year, Palestinian attacks or suspected attacks have resulted in the deaths of four Israelis and 31 Palestinian perpetrators or suspected perpetrators. including ten children.
A 22-year-old Palestinian man was killed by live ammunition during clashes in the course of a military operation into Qalandiya Refugee Camp to extract two Israeli soldiers who mistakenly found themselves inside the camp (Jerusalem). Clashes with Israeli forces across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) also resulted in the injury of 225 Palestinians, including 65 children. Nine of the injuries occurred next to the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip and the rest were in the West Bank. The majority of injuries were reported during clashes in the weekly demonstrations in Kafr Qaddum (Qalqiliya) and Ni’lin (Ramallah); ad-hoc clashes near Al Khadr village and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem; and during eleven separate search and arrest operations. This brings to eight the total number of Palestinians killed in the oPt during clashes since the beginning of 2016, three of them children; and 1,170 injuries, including 381 children.
On 2 March, following an attack next to Bracha settlement, Israeli forces blocked the main entrances to the nearby villages of Burin, Iraq Burin and Madama (population 5,900), west of Nablus city, and deployed ad hoc checkpoints on secondary routes, for five consecutive days. Also during this period, the Israeli army opened the northern entrance to Bani Na’im village (Hebron), which had been closed for the past three months.
The bodies of nine Palestinians, suspected of perpetrating attacks against Israelis, are currently being withheld by the Israeli authorities for periods ranging from 29 to 153 days, all of them residents of East Jerusalem.
On 25 February, one Palestinian child (5-years-old) was killed and another (6 years old) was injured, by unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Jabalia, north Gaza city.
At least 36 incidents involving Israeli forces opening fire at Palestinian civilians and property in the Access Restricted Areas (ARA) on land and sea in the Gaza Strip were recorded. No casualties were reported, but one Palestinian elementary school east of Gaza city sustained gunfire damage to a classroom while a class was in session. Thirteen Palestinians were detained during the period, including three near the border fence surrounding Gaza, after crossing into Israel without Israeli authorization; one member of the Palestinian national football team at Erez crossing; and nine fishermen detained at sea, after Israeli forces reportedly forced them to take off their clothes and swim towards the navy boat.
The Israeli authorities destroyed three homes in Hebron city, Deir Samit and Tarusa also in the Hebron governorate, belonging to Palestinians who had been accused of committing attacks against Israelis last November, displacing 22 people, including thirteen children. Another three homes in Qabatiya (Jenin) were served with demolition orders on the same grounds during the week. Punitive demolitions are a form of collective punishment and run counter to a range of provisions under international law.
During the reporting period, Israeli forces destroyed or dismantled and confiscated 85 structures in Area C and East Jerusalem communities for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, including 17 structures provided as humanitarian assistance. As a result, 96 people, including 41 children, were displaced and 255 persons were affected. The largest incident affected the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khirbet Tana (Nablus), which is located in a “firing zone” and which was almost entirely destroyed (41 structures). The number of structures demolished since the start of 2016 is already 70 per cent of the demolitions recorded in all of 2015, while the number of people displaced is nearly 68 per cent of the total 2015 figure. The number of donor-funded structures demolished (120) has already exceeded the 2015 total (108). On 17 February, the Coordinator for Humanitarian and UN Development Activities for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Robert Piper, called for an immediate halt to the destruction of Palestinian-owned property in the occupied West Bank and for respect for international law.
Eight Israeli settlers attacks leading to injury or property damage against Palestinians were recorded during the two-week period, including: the physical assault and injury of five Palestinians, including one woman, in Nablus, Salfit and Hebron; the uprooting of 30 olive saplings in Qusra (Nablus) reportedly by settlers from Esh Kodesh settlement; and damage to a Palestinian vehicle in Asira al Qibliya (Nablus), reportedly by settlers from Yitzhar settlement. Additionally (not included in the count), a Palestinian man was injured when run over by an Israeli-plated vehicle near the entrance of Ariel settlement (Salfit).
Three incidents of stone-throwing by Palestinians against Israeli settler vehicles were reported by Israeli media, resulting in damage to three private vehicles near Hebron and Bethlehem. On 3 March, Israeli authorities handed out flyers in Shufa village (Tulkarm) threatening to take punishment procedures against residents, if stone throwing against Israeli cars continued.
The Egyptian-controlled Rafah Crossing was closed in both directions during the reporting period. The crossing has been closed, including for humanitarian assistance, since 24 October 2014, except for 42 days of partial openings. Authorities in Gaza indicated that over 25,000 people with urgent needs, including around 3,500 medical cases, are registered and waiting to cross.