Protection of Civilians Report | 2-15 November 2021

Latest developments

• 16 November: Israeli forces shot and killed a 26-year-old Palestinian during a search-and-arrest operation in Tubas.  
• 17 November: A 16-year-old Palestinian boy stabbed two Israeli police officers in the old city of Jerusalem and was subsequently shot and killed.

Highlights from the reporting period

• On 5 November, Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in Deir al Hatab village (Nablus). The killing occurred while Palestinian protesters threw stones at Israeli forces, who shot live ammunition and tear gas canisters. The Israeli military has reportedly opened an investigation.
• Overall in the West Bank, Israeli forces injured 190 Palestinians. Of those, 135 were wounded during protests against settlement activities near Beita (126) and Beit Dajan (9), in the Nablus governorate. Another 47 Palestinians were injured in clashes that took place in the vicinity of the DCO checkpoint (Ramallah). One Palestinian was injured during a search-and-arrest operation in At Tuwani (Hebron), and the remaining injuries occurred from clashes that erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the Bethlehem and Hebron governorates. Overall, one Palestinian was injured by live ammunition and 27 by rubber bullets, seven were physically assaulted and the rest were treated for teargas inhalation. In addition to those injured directly by Israeli forces, 11 Palestinians were reportedly injured while running away from Israeli forces, or in circumstances that could not be verified, in Beita. A man was also injured by unexploded ordnance while collecting scrap metal in an Israeli-declared ‘closed military zone’ in the Bethlehem area. 
• Israeli forces carried out 65 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 92 Palestinians across the West Bank. The highest number of operations was in Hebron, followed by Bethlehem.
• On at least four 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. Israeli military bulldozers levelled land inside Gaza, near the perimeter fence east of Khan Younis. During the operation, seven dunums of fields planted with vegetables were damaged. In a separate incident, one man was arrested while reportedly trying to enter Israel through the perimeter fence.
• The Israeli authorities demolished, seized or forced Palestinians to demolish 49 Palestinian-owned structures for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 38 people and otherwise affecting the livelihoods or access to services of almost 400 others. Among the structures demolished in Area C, were a mosque, eight residential structures and 23 livelihood structures in 16 communities. Eight structures were demolished in East Jerusalem,  including two homes demolished by their owners. 
• Israeli settlers injured 20 Palestinians and five Israeli volunteers, and people known or believed to be Israeli settlers damaged or stole the harvest from dozens of olive trees. In Khallet Athaba’ (Hebron), settlers erected a tent, Palestinians threw stones at them, and some of the Israelis injured five Palestinians, including three with live ammunition; in the same incident, settlers set fire to a Palestinian tent and five Palestinian vehicles, including two ambulances. Eleven other Palestinians were injured by stones when settlers raided Burin and Burqa villages (Nablus) and the Ras al Amud neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, where several cars were also vandalized. Three shepherds, including two women, were physically assaulted in the Saadet Tha'lah area of Hebron. In Huwwara (Nablus), settlers physically assaulted another farmer while he was picking olives, injuring him, and killed three calves. Also, settlers threw stones at and injured five Israeli volunteers accompanying Palestinian olive pickers in Surif (Hebron). In Burin and the Ash Shuyukh area of Hebron, settlers reportedly vandalized about 120 olive trees and stole the harvest of dozens of others. In several incidents in Nablus and Hebron, settlers reportedly vandalized water wells and mobile tanks, surveillance cameras and a residential structure. In the H2 area of Hebron, a settler was stoned and injured by Palestinians, as settlers were harassing Palestinians.
• People known or believed to be Palestinians threw stones at Israeli-plated vehicles in the Jerusalem governorate and the Jordan Valley, injuring three settlers. According to Israeli sources, Palestinian stone-throwing damaged 30 Israeli-plated cars throughout the West Bank.