Protection of Civilians Report | 16 November – 6 December 2021

14 Dec 2021

Latest developments

On 8 December, an Israeli female settler was stabbed and injured in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The suspected perpetrator, a Palestinian girl, has been arrested.
On 10 December, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in the context of weekly protests against settlement activity in Beita, Nablus.
On 13 December, Israeli forces killed a 30-year-old man during clashes, following a search-and-arrest operation in Nablus.

Highlights from the reporting period

During the reporting period, one Israeli civilian was killed, two injured and five members of Israeli security forces were also injured in four attacks perpetrated by Palestinians. The four Palestinian perpetrators, of which two were minors, were killed by Israeli security forces. The incidents included one shooting and two stabbing attacks in the Old City of Jerusalem and one ramming incident in Tulkarm. On 17 November, in the Old City of Jerusalem, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy from Al 'Isawiya (East Jerusalem) stabbed and injured two Israeli Border Police officers and was shot and killed by Israeli police. On 21 November, a Palestinian man from Shu’fat refugee camp (East Jerusalem) shot and killed one Israeli civilian and reportedly injured one Israeli civilian and two Israeli Border Police officers. He was shot and killed by Israeli forces at the site. Also, outside the Old City of Jerusalem, near Damascus Gate, on 4 December, a 25-year-old Palestinian man from Salfit stabbed and injured an Israeli man and tried to stab an Israeli Border Policeman. Israeli forces shot and killed the Palestinian man at the scene. Regarding the shooting, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has raised concerns of possible extra-judicial execution. According to the Israeli authorities, the officers acted in line with established security protocol and took appropriate action to limit further loss of life. On 6 December, another 16-year-old Palestinian drove a vehicle into a security booth at Kafriat checkpoint (Tulkarm), injuring an Israeli security guard. Israeli security guards shot and killed the assailant. The bodies of the four Palestinians are being withheld by the Israeli authorities.
Following the above attacks, on three separate occasions, Israeli forces closed gates leading to Al Aqsa Mosque and roads leading to the Old City of Jerusalem for several hours, preventing residents from reaching their homes. Israeli forces also carried out multiple search-and-arrest operations in Shu’fat refugee camp and Al ‘Isawiya, where two of the perpetrators lived, and arrested several relatives. Clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli forces followed in both locations, with at least four Palestinians injured. Settlers and other Israelis took to the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem and main junctions across the West Bank to protest the attacks, with some throwing stones at Palestinian cars and homes, resulting in property damage.
Israeli forces shot with live ammunition and killed a 26-year-old Palestinian man, and injured another one, in clashes that erupted during a search-and-arrest operation in Tammun (Tubas). Clashes across the West Bank also resulted in the injury of 441 Palestinians, including 97 children by Israeli forces. Most injuries were reported during clashes in the weekly demonstrations held against settlement activities near Beita (319) and Beit Dajan (51), both in the Nablus governorate. Another 26 injuries were reported in clashes that erupted with Israeli forces following the entry of Israelis to a religious site in Nablus city; eleven during five search-and-arrest operations in Tubas, Jerusalem and Ramallah; 28 in seven incidents in the H2 area of Hebron city and Nablus (see below). The remaining injuries were recorded in the three separate incidents in Hebron Governorate and near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City where Palestinians threw stones and Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets Three of those injured were shot by live ammunition; 59 by rubber bullets; 364 were treated for teargas inhalation and the remaining 15 were physically assaulted or hit by teargas canisters.
Of the above injuries, 28 Palestinian, including 18 pupils were teargassed or physically assaulted and injured by Israeli forces in seven incidents affecting schools in Al Lubban ash Sharqiya (Nablus) and in the H2 area of Hebron City. In H2, Palestinian students reportedly threw stones at Israeli forces and the latter shot tear gas canisters at a nearby school compound; 15 girls were treated for teargas inhalation and students from the nearby three schools were evacuated due to the intensity of the gas. On five incidents, in Al Lubban ash Sharqiya, 13 Palestinians were injured, including three school students, and about 70 others inhaled teargas but did not require medical treatment, after Israeli forces fired teargas canisters and sound bombs at students, disrupting classes and forcing students to leave the school. These incidents occurred after Israeli settlers gathered near the school protesting that they had been hit by stones thrown from the school premises.
On at least 35 occasions, Israeli forces opened warning fire near Israel’s perimeter fence and off the coast of Gaza, ostensibly to enforce access restrictions. No injuries were reported. Seven Palestinian fishermen were arrested, and two boats were confiscated by Israeli forces. Israeli military bulldozers conducted five land levelling operations inside Gaza, near the perimeter fence. The Israeli authorities arrested two men at the Erez Crossing, including one who was accompanying his wife for medical treatment in East Jerusalem. Another three people, including a child, were arrested while reportedly trying to cross into Israel through the perimeter fence.
Israeli forces carried out 100 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 132 Palestinians across the West Bank. The largest number of operations were recorded in East Jerusalem (33), and the Hebron governorate (31), followed by (19) in Bethlehem and (14) in Ramallah. Between 18 November and 1 December, Israeli forces have closed the main entrances of Mantiqat Shi'b al Butum (Hebron) and Deir Nidham (Ramallah), respectively; forcing Palestinian residents to rely on long detours, disrupting their access to services and livelihoods.
On 30 November, at least six Palestinian families were forced to evacuate their residence for eight days to make way for Israeli military trainings in the Ibziq area of the Jordan Valley. As a result, 38 people, including 17 children were temporarily displaced. No alternative shelter arrangements were provided for them.
Israeli authorities demolished, seized, or forced owners to demolish, a total of 62 Palestinian-owned structures, including eleven provided as humanitarian assistance across the West Bank, due to lack of Israeli-issued building permits. In total, 55 people were displaced, including 18 children, and the livelihoods of about 3,000 other people were affected. Forty-four of the structures were located in Area C, including 11 previously provided as humanitarian assistance. In the Mirkez community of Massafer Yatta (Hebron), the Israeli authorities demolished eight homes, cisterns and livelihood-related structures. This area is designated as a “firing zone” for military training and its 1,300 residents face a coercive environment putting them at risk of forcible transfer. In Khirbet Atuf, located in Area C of Tubas governorate, the Israeli authorities dismantled and confiscated some 1,800 metres of a donor-funded water pipeline. Thirteen of the structures were in East Jerusalem, of which six were demolished by their Palestinian owners to avoid municipal fees and possible damage to other structures and personal belongings. Another five structures were demolished following an Israeli Supreme Court ruling on the basis of a 2011 military order that designates a security buffer zone on the ‘Jerusalem side’ of the Barrier in Area A of Sur Bahir, where construction is prohibited, and in Area B in Al Khas community (Bethlehem). Three households comprising nine people, including three children and one elderly woman, were displaced.
On 28 November, the Jerusalem District Court rejected the residents’ appeal against 58 demolition orders issued by the Israeli authorities against dozens of Palestinian-owned structures in the Wadi Yasul area of Silwan, East Jerusalem, placing hundreds of people at imminent risk of displacement. Wadi Yasul is home to some 700 Palestinians, but has been zoned by the Israeli authorities as a ‘Green Area.’ Efforts by residents to rezone the neighbourhood as ’residential’ have been rejected over the past 15 years.
25 settler attacks resulted in four Palestinian injuries and property damage across the West Bank. Eight of these incidents included stone throwing at Palestinian vehicles and houses in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron areas, resulting in two Palestinians, including one child, injured and at least 13 Palestinian vehicles damaged. The tires of 13 Palestinian-owned cars were punctured in Sheikh Jarrah. Three additional attacks in Shufa (Nablus), Khirbet Sarura and Ash Shyukh (both in Hebron) were recorded, including breaking into houses, stealing agricultural tools, damaging three water tanks and cutting part of a water pipeline. Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian herders and their cows in Ein al Hilwa community in the Northern Jordan Valley (Tubas), killing three cows. Over 130 trees and saplings were damaged near the villages of Yanun and Jalud (both in Nablus) and Khallet Athaba' in Hebron.
Palestinians threw stones at Israeli-plated vehicles in the Jerusalem, Nablus and Jericho governorates, injuring ten settlers. According to Israeli sources, stone-throwing damaged 35 Israeli-plated cars throughout the West Bank. In a separate incident, on 1 December, two Israelis, including one settler, were attacked and their car was set on fire by Palestinians after they entered downtown Ramallah, before they were rescued by Palestinian security forces.