Protection of Civilians Report | 22 March - 4 April 2022

Latest Developments (after the reporting period)

• On 7 April, a Palestinian from the West Bank shot and killed three Israelis, and injured others, in central Israel. Subsequently, Israeli forces have killed five Palestinians in the West Bank, in various circumstances, and injured others. (Details in next Protection of Civilians Report).

Highlights from the reporting period

• Three Israelis and two foreigners were killed, and one was injured, in two Palestinian attacks; both perpetrators were killed on the spot. On 29 March, a Palestinian man from Ya’bad (Jenin) shot and killed three Israelis, including a police officer, and two foreigners, and injured others in central Israel. The assailant, who had reportedly entered Israel without a permit, was shot and killed by the abovementioned police officer, who later died of his wounds. The following day, a 30-year-old Palestinian man stabbed and injured an Israeli settler near Gush Etzion settlement block (Bethlehem) and was subsequently shot and killed by another settler. The bodies of both assailants are withheld by the Israeli authorities, as of the end of the reporting period. 
• Israeli forces shot and killed three other Palestinians, including a child, in two incidents that reportedly involved Palestinians throwing stones or Molotov cocktails, or shooting. On 31 March, Israeli forces shot and killed two unarmed Palestinians, including a 16-year-old boy, and injured another twenty over the course of a search-and-arrest operation in Jenin refugee camp; an exchange of fire with Palestinians reportedly took place. On 1 April, a 28-year-old Palestinian man was shot and killed in the H2 area of Hebron city; according to Israeli media, he threw a Molotov cocktail at a structure where Israeli soldiers were positioned. No Israeli injuries were reported in the two incidents.
• Another three Palestinian men were killed by undercover Israeli forces on 2 April at the Arraba junction (Jenin). Four Israeli soldiers were wounded in the incident during an exchange of fire with Palestinians. Israeli forces prevented Palestinian paramedics from reaching the scene for several hours. According to Israeli media, the three Palestinians were intending to carry out an attack against Israelis and weapons were found in their vehicle. 
• Overall, 441 Palestinians, including 84 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank, more than twice as many as in the previous reporting period. Most of the injuries (289) were recorded near Beita and Beit Dajan (both in Nablus), and Kafr Qaddum (Qalqiliya), in demonstrations against settlements. In the villages of Qaryut (Nablus) and Kafr ad Dik (Salfit), and in Hebron city, 39 people were injured by Israeli forces following the entry of Israeli settlers into these areas and subsequent Palestinian stone-throwing at Israeli forces, who shot live ammunition, rubber bullets and teargas canisters at Palestinians. In Jenin city, during a search-and-arrest operation, Palestinians reportedly threw stones at Israeli forces and the latter shot teargas canisters, some of which landed near a hospital compound; five patients and staff required medical treatment for teargas inhalation, and several wards had to be evacuated. Another 73 Palestinians were injured during five search-and-arrest operations in Jerusalem, Jenin, and Bethlehem. In total, Israeli forces carried out 40 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 78 Palestinians. Another 40 injuries were reported in the Old City of Jerusalem and Tulkarm (see below). Of all the Palestinian injuries, seven were by live ammunition, 81 by rubber bullets, and most of the remainder were treated for inhaling teargas.
• Since the beginning of Ramadan, on 2 April, Israeli forces have intensified their presence in and around the Old City of Jerusalem, including outside the Damascus Gate, where Palestinians gather after breaking the fast. Some Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police, injuring one of them, and the latter injured 19 Palestinians, including at least one child, and arrested at least ten (included above).
• Following the 29 March attack in Israel, the Israeli military deployed soldiers to the northern West Bank, to block unregulated Palestinian access to Israel through breaches in the West Bank Barrier. On several occasions, Israeli forces reportedly fired teargas canisters and stun grenades at Palestinians along the fence, resulting in seventeen injuries (included above).
• The Israeli authorities demolished or confiscated 21 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C of the West Bank, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. No displacement was reported but the livelihoods of about 115 people, including 44 children, were affected. Most of the structures (13) were reported in one single incident in Tulkarm city and two of the structures were in the herding community of Ras at Tin (Ramallah), where the Israeli authorities had declared the land a ‘firing zone’ for military training. The remaining six structures were reported in Jerusalem, Jericho, Hebron and Bethlehem governorates.
• On 30 March, the Israeli Supreme Court approved a seven-month extension for an interim injunction that prevents the demolition of 34 houses, home to about 300 people, under threat of demolition in Al Walaja (Bethlehem). However, 12 structures that are not covered by the injunction may be demolished at any time.
• On 27 March, Israeli settlers took over the first floor of the Petra Hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Israeli Police facilitated the move, despite court cases pending since 2004. During the incident, verbal and physical confrontations between Palestinians, Israeli settlers, and Israeli forces were reported nearby, and three Palestinians were arrested. 
• Israeli settlers injured five Palestinians, and people known or believed to be settlers damaged Palestinian property in 35 instances, representing a 75 per cent increase compared with the previous reporting period. The injuries occurred in four separate incidents, when settlers physically assaulted a Palestinian man grazing livestock near Jinba (Hebron), and a man farming his land near Kafr ad Dik (Salfit) and after settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles near Huwwara and Deir Sharaf (both in Nablus) injuring three Palestinian men and causing damage to their vehicles. In six other incidents, about 255 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings were uprooted or vandalized near Israeli settlements next to Al Lubban ash Sharqiya (Nablus), Turmus’ayya (Ramallah), Ash Shuyukh (Hebron), and Kafr Qaddum (Qalqiliya). In eleven incidents in Ramallah, Nablus, Jerusalem, Qalqiliya, Salfit and in the Sheikh Jarrah area of East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers punctured the tires of 83 Palestinian-owned cars and attacked nine homes, causing damage to windows and wrote graffiti on the walls. Nine additional incidents were recorded in Salfit, Hebron, Ramallah, and Qalqiliya where agricultural equipment and livestock were stolen and a well and three water tanks were damaged. In another nine incidents, settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles near Jerusalem, Hebron and Nablus causing damage to at least ten vehicles.
• People known or believed to be Palestinians injured six Israeli settlers and damaged ten Israeli vehicles. Six Israeli settlers were injured by stone-throwing near Nablus, Ramallah and Jerusalem. Israeli-plated vehicles were damaged by stones or Molotov cocktails thrown at them in 13 incidents.
• In Gaza, on at least 27 occasions, Israeli forces opened warning fire near Israel’s perimeter fence or off the coast, presumably to enforce access restrictions. While nobody was injured, farmers and fishers were forced out of their work areas.