Protection of Civilians Report | 28 February – 13 March 2023

Latest Developments (outside the reporting period)

This section is based on initial information from different sources. Further confirmed details will be provided in the next report.

• On 16 March, undercover Israeli forces entered Jenin, where they shot and killed four Palestinians, including one child, and injured at least 23 others. 
• On 18 March, a Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces at the Beit El/DCO checkpoint at the northern entrance of Al Bireh (Ramallah).

Highlights from the reporting period

• Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians, including one child, and injured 55 others, including 30 with live ammunition, in four operations that involved exchange of fire with Palestinians in Jericho, Jenin and Nablus. On 1 March, Israeli forces conducted a search- and-arrest operation in Aqbat Jaber refugee camp (Jericho) and arrested four Palestinians who were suspected of killing an Israeli man in a drive-by shooting attack in the area on 27 February. During the search-and-arrest operation, an exchange of fire took place between Israeli forces and Palestinians, and one Palestinian was shot with live ammunition while trying to flee, before being arrested and later dying of his wounds. Another Palestinian was shot and injured with live ammunition fired by Israeli forces, and 25 others needed medical treatment after inhaling teargas during the incident. Subsequently, Israeli forces removed checkpoints that they had deployed around Jericho city after the shooting attack. On 7 March, Israeli forces, raided Jenin refugee camp, where they surrounded a building and exchanged fire with Palestinians, killing six Palestinian men and injuring 26 others with live ammunition. One of those injured, a 14-year-old child, succumbed to his wounds on 9 March. According to the Israeli military, one of the fatalities was suspected of shooting and killing two Israelis in Huwwara on 26 February. On 9 March, undercover and other Israeli forces raided Jabaa village (Jenin), reportedly to arrest Palestinians suspected of being involved in shooting attacks against Israelis in the area. Israeli forces killed three Palestinian men in a vehicle near the village’s entrance, saying that the men had opened fire at them. Another Palestinian man was arrested. On 12 March, Israeli forces near Sarra village (Nablus) shot and killed another three Palestinians, who were also in a vehicle and, according to the Israeli military, opened fire at an army position. A fourth man who was sitting in the vehicle turned himself in. The Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade claimed the killed men as affiliates, their bodies have been withheld by Israeli authorities. During the incident, Israeli forces shot and injured three other Palestinians who were on their way to work.
• Two children were killed by Israeli forces in Qalqilya. On 2 March, Israeli forces in Azzun village fatally shot a 15-year-old Palestinian child in the back and injured two other children with live ammunition. According to the Israeli military, soldiers shot at people suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails at them. On 10 March, Israeli forces at the entrance of Qalqiliya city shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian child. Israeli forces shot live bullets and teargas cannisters toward Palestinians who threw stones and explosives. Fifteen Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far in 2023, compared with two in the equivalent period of 2022.
• An Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian man in a newly-established settlement outpost in Qalqilya. On 10 March, an Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian man who entered a settlement outpost east of Qalqilya. According to the Israeli military, the man was carrying knives and explosive devices. His body has been withheld by the Israeli authorities. This brings to four the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, including three who were killed while attacking or allegedly trying to attack Israelis.
• A Palestinian from the West Bank shot and injured three Israelis in Israel. On 9 March, a man from Ni’lin (Ramallah) shot and injured three Israelis in central Israel before being shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. Following the shooting attack, Israeli forces raided Ni’lin village (Ramallah), where they arrested the father and the brother of the Palestinian perpetrator and took measurements of his family home, reportedly in preparation for its punitive demolition. During the raid, Israeli forces fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and teargas canisters at Palestinians who threw stones and Molotov cocktails; two Palestinians were injured, including two with live ammunition.
• A total of 271 Palestinians, including at least 24 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank, of whom 39 were shot with live ammunition. In addition to the 55 Palestinians injured during the three abovementioned operations in Jericho, Jenin refugee camp and Nablus, 19 additional injuries occurred during four search-and-arrest and other operations carried out by Israeli forces in multiple locations. In five incidents, Israeli forces injured 84 Palestinians, most of whom were treated for teargas inhalation, following the entry of Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, into the Palestinian communities of Qaryut, Huwwara and Burin (all in Nablus) and Hebron city. Another 85 Palestinians were injured near Beit Dajan (Nablus) and Kafr Qaddum (Qalqilya) in demonstrations against access restrictions and settlement expansion. Israeli forces injured 28 Palestinians at the entrances of Azzun (Qalqiliya), Beit Ummar and Al ‘Arrub refugee camp (both in Hebron), in incidents where Israeli forces shot live ammunition and teargas cannisters at Palestinians who threw stones at Israeli soldiers positioned at military observation towers. In addition, one Israeli soldier was injured when Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces at the entrance to Azzun (Qalqilya). Overall, 204 Palestinians were treated for teargas inhalation, 39 were shot with live ammunition, 17 were injured with rubber bullets, two were physically assaulted, and nine were injured when hit by sound grenades or teargas canisters.
• Israeli settlers injured eleven Palestinians, including two children, and people known or believed to be settlers damaged Palestinian property in another 24 instances across the West Bank. In addition to 84 Palestinians injured by Israeli forces in five settler-related incidents, eleven Palestinians were directly injured by Israeli settlers. On 3 March, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured two Palestinian herders while they were grazing their livestock near Khirbet Zantua (Hebron). On 6 March, a two-year-old Palestinian child, a woman, and three other Palestinians, all members of the same family, were injured when Israeli settlers entered Huwwara and threw stones at Palestinian houses and vehicles. During the incident, at least four vehicles and two shops sustained damage from stones and gunshots by Israeli settlers. Israeli forces intervened and fired teargas canisters at Palestinians, injuring twenty-five. In two separate incidents on 7 and 8 March in Hebron city, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian property by throwing stones and empty bottles in Tal Rumeida and Wadi Al Hussein, H2 area, Hebron. One eight-year-old boy and another Palestinian man were injured, and damage to Palestinian homes and vehicles were reported. On 8 March, an Israeli settler pepper-sprayed and injured a Palestinian man in Al Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount compound in the old city of Jerusalem. On 8 March, a Palestinian man was injured when Israeli settlers threw stones at his vehicle in An Nassariya (Nablus). In six incidents, near Al Mughayyir and Deir Nidham (both in Ramallah), Jit (Qalqiliya), Rujeib (Nablus), and Yasuf (Salfit), according to community sources, some 240 olive trees were vandalized on Palestinian land near Israeli settlements, including where Palestinian access requires approval from the Israeli military. Additionally, Palestinian property was damaged, and livestock was injured, in eighteen incidents near Qalqiliya, Nablus, Hebron and Bethlehem; the damaged property included 12 vehicles, agricultural structures, two water tanks and stone walls.
• Palestinians injured four Israeli settlers and damaged at least fourteen Israeli-plated vehicles in twelve incidents where people known or believed to be Palestinians threw stones at Israeli vehicles travelling on West Bank roads, according to Israeli sources.
• The Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced people to demolish 35 structures in Area C and East Jerusalem, in the West Bank, including 13 residential structures, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. Eight of the structures were provided by donors as humanitarian assistance. As a result, 74 Palestinians, including 32 children, were displaced, and the livelihoods of more than 170 others were affected. Twenty-seven of the structures were in Area C, including seven (all donor-funded) demolished in a single incident in Mantiqat Shib al Butum in southern Hebron, resulting in the displacement of four households, comprising 26 people, including eight children. This is the third demolition in the same location since February 2022. Another eight structures were demolished in East Jerusalem, including two homes destroyed by their owners, to avoid the payment of fines to the Israeli authorities. February 2023 accounted for the highest monthly number of structures demolished in East Jerusalem since April 2019; a total of 36 structures were demolished, compared with a monthly average of eleven in 2022.
• Four Palestinian households left their place of residence following the establishment of a new Israeli settlement outpost nearby, raising concerns of possible forcible transfer. On 26 February, four Palestinian households took their tents and all their belongings and left Wadi as Seeq community in Area C (Ramallah), moving to another location between Sinjil and Jaljiliya, in Area B of Ramallah. This happened after Israeli settlers established a new settlement outpost nearby. The four households comprise 27 people, including 16 children. While in previous years these households moved to the same location as part of seasonal movements, they reported that their relocation at this unusual time was due to the establishment of the settlement outpost, and they do not plan to return.
• In the Gaza Strip, on at least 39 occasions, Israeli forces opened “warning fire” near Israel’s perimeter fence or off the coast, presumably to enforce access restrictions; four fishermen were injured and one fishing boat was damaged. In another incident, an elderly Palestinian man from Gaza was arrested by Israeli forces at Erez crossing while accompanying his relative who had a medical appointment outside of Gaza. Separately, a Palestinian child was arrested by Israeli forces while trying to enter Israel through the perimeter fence. Additionally, on at least eight occasions, Israeli military bulldozers leveled land inside Gaza, near the perimeter fence in Khan Younis.  
• On 8 March, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza fired one rocket into Israel. The rocket fell in an open area, causing no injuries or damage.

Footnotes

1 Palestinians killed or injured by people who are not members of Israeli forces, e.g., by Israeli civilians or with Palestinian rockets falling short, as well as those whose immediate cause of death or the perpetrator’s identity remain disputed, unclear, or unknown, are counted separately. During this reporting period, one additional Palestinian man is counted separately as he was killed by an Israeli settler.

2 Israeli casualties in these charts include people who were injured while running to shelters during Palestinian rocket attacks. Foreign nationals killed in Palestinian attacks and people whose immediate cause of death or the perpetrator’s identity remain disputed, unclear, or unknown, are counted separately.