Protection of Civilians Report | 30 August – 12 September 2022

Latest Development (outside the reporting period)

• On 14 September, Israeli forces and two Palestinians exchanged fire at the Jalama checkpoint in Jenin. One Israeli officer and the two Palestinians were killed. The next day, Israeli forces conducted a search-and-arrest operation in Kafr Dan (Jenin), where they shot and killed a Palestinian child. More details will be provided in the next report.

Highlights from the reporting period

• Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinian men in three search-and-arrest operations in the West Bank. On 1 and 7 September, Israeli forces raided Al Bireh (Ramallah) and Al Far’a refugee camp (Tubas) and shot live ammunition and rubber coated metal bullets at residents who threw stones and Molotov cocktails; a 21- and a 26-year-old Palestinian were killed in the shooting, and three others were arrested. On 5 September, Israeli forces besieged a residential building in Qabatiya (Jenin), where they called on the building's residents to turn themselves in. An exchange of fire with Palestinians was reported. Israeli forces shot live ammunition and tear gas canisters at residents who threw stones and Molotov cocktails. A 19-year-old Palestinian man was killed. Overall, Israeli forces conducted 125 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 240 Palestinians, including 13 children across the West Bank. The Jerusalem governorate accounted for the highest number of operations (29) and the Hebron governorate accounted for the highest number of arrests (48). During seven of these operations, Israeli forces fired live ammunition at Palestinians who threw stones and, in some cases, opened fire at Israeli forces, resulting in 61 Palestinian injuries, including 13 by live ammunition.
• Two Palestinians, including one child, were shot, and killed while reportedly stabbing or attempting to hit with a hammer Israeli force in Hebron and Ramallah. On 2 September, a 19-year-old Palestinian stabbed and injured an Israeli soldier near Beit Einun Junction in Hebron and was shot and killed by Israeli forces. On 8 September, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy attempted to stab and hit an Israeli soldier with a hammer near Beit El/DCO checkpoint in Ramallah and was also shot and killed by Israeli forces. Both bodies are being withheld by the Israeli authorities, as of the end of the reporting period. Since the beginning of the year eight Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces during Palestinian attacks or attempted/alleged attacks against Israelis in the West Bank. Additionally, on 4 September, Palestinians opened fire at a bus carrying Israeli soldiers in the Jordan Valley, injuring six of them as well as the driver. Exchanges of fire followed, and the suspects’ car caught fire. Two of the suspects were injured and arrested. 
• Two Palestinians were killed, and 16 others were injured by Israeli forces during a punitive demolition in Jenin city. On 6 September, Israeli forces used explosives to demolish the home of a Palestinian man who shot and killed three Israelis and injured nine in Israel in April 2022. During the operation, Israeli forces shot live ammunition and tear gas canisters and Palestinians shot live ammunition, threw stones and Molotov cocktails. A 19-year-old Palestinian man, who was reportedly filming the incident, was shot and killed, and 16 others were injured, including a 25-year-old man who was injured by live ammunition and succumbed to his wounds on 11 September. 
• In total, 315 Palestinians, including at least 37 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank. 121 of the injuries were recorded near Beita and Beit Dajan (both in Nablus) and Kafr Qaddum (Qalqilya), in anti-settlement protests. Another five Palestinians were injured in a demonstration near Al Jib checkpoint (Jerusalem), during solidarity protests with the weekly demonstrations taking place in An Nabi Samwil village (more details below). In five separate incidents, in At Tuwani (Hebron), Kisan (Bethlehem), Sinjil (Ramallah) and Nablus city, 112 people were injured after Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, attacked Palestinians or, in one case, entered a Palestinian community. According to Palestinian sources, Israeli forces fired sound bombs, tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at residents who threw stones. Another 16 people were injured in the exchange of fire that took place in Jenin during a punitive demolition (more details below). Additionally, 61 Palestinians were injured in military operations, including 45 injuries reported on 30 August, when Israeli forces raided Rujeib village (Nablus) and besieged a residential building, and reportedly launched shoulder-held missiles and exchanged fire with Palestinians inside, who subsequently turned themselves in; Israeli forces fired teargas and live ammunition at Palestinians who were throwing stones. According to the Israeli authorities, those arrested are suspected of shooting at a security vehicle in a settlement on 26 August (more details below). Of the 320 Palestinians injured 25 injuries were by live ammunition.
• The Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced people to demolish 44 Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. As a result, 29 people, including ten children, were displaced, and the livelihoods of about 140 others were affected. Some 35 of the structures were in Area C, including 19 structures seized without warning, which prevented the ability of owners to object in advance. This represents a significant increase in such seizures compared with the biweekly average since the beginning of the year (four). Nine other structures were demolished in East Jerusalem, including five that were destroyed by their owners following the issuance of demolition orders, to avoid paying fines when the structure is demolished by Israeli authorities.  
• On 6 September, Israeli authorities demolished an uninhabited residential apartment in a multistorey building in Jenin city, in Area A, on punitive grounds. The home belonged to a Palestinian man who shot and killed three Israelis in Israel in April 2022 and who was subsequently killed. During the operation, one Palestinian man was shot and killed, and another later died of his wounds (see above). Another two homes sustained damage from the explosion, affecting two Palestinian households comprising 12 people, including eight children. Since the beginning of 2022, eleven homes have been demolished on punitive grounds, compared with three in all of 2021 and seven in 2020. Punitive demolitions are a form of collective punishment, which is illegal under international law, as they target the families of a perpetrator, or alleged perpetrator, who are not involved in the alleged act.
• On two consecutive days, Israeli forces conducted military training exercises near the 13 Palestinian herding communities of Masafer Yatta in southern Hebron. This area has been designated by Israeli authorities as a ‘firing zone’ and declared closed for Israeli military training. The training continued until 15 September, restricting the access of Palestinians to basic services, and risking their safety. Additionally, on several occasions since the start of the school year, Israeli authorities have disrupted the access of teachers and students to school in Masafer Yatta, where four schools operate, through fixed and flying checkpoints. All schools in the area are at risk of demolition by Israeli authorities. On 30 August, Israeli forces stopped a school bus carrying pupils to Al Fakhiet school, forcing at least 30 children to walk a long distance to school. The following day, nine teachers of Jinba school who were travelling into the area from Yatta, were stopped by Israeli forces at a flying checkpoint and forced to continue by foot. Over 1,000 Palestinians, including 560 children, in Masafer Yatta live at risk of forcible transfer. 
• Israeli forces restricted the movement of Palestinians in various locations across the West Bank. On 31 August, Israeli forces blocked with earth mounds an agricultural road in Deir Istiya (Salfit), hindering the access of about 400 Palestinian farmers to their land. In another five incidents, on 4, 7, 9 and 10 September, Israeli forces blocked with earth mounds, and closed the metal gates to Khirbet Atuf (Tubas), Qarawat Bani Hassan (Salfit), An Nabi Salih and Deir Nidham (both in Ramallah) and Azzun (Qalqiliya), hindering the access of about 18,000 Palestinians to livelihoods and services and forcing them to take long detours. These closures are believed to be linked to Palestinian stone throwing and to the shooting attack at an Israeli bus (see above). On several occasions, Israeli forces have tightened the movement and access restrictions imposed on the Palestinian residents of An Nabi Samwil dislocated community; located entirely in area C within the Jerusalem side of the barrier, and where residents live with the continuous threat of demolitions, settler violence and movement and access restrictions. Residents of the area have been holding weekly demonstrations against new access policies, during which three Palestinians were arrested.  
• Israeli settlers injured 21 Palestinians, and people known or believed to be Israeli settlers damaged Palestinian property in 27 instances. On 8, 9 and 12 September, Israeli settlers shot, physically assaulted and pepper-sprayed Palestinian farmers who were farming their land in Sinjil (Ramallah), At Tuwani (Hebron) and Khallet al Louza (Bethlehem). As a result, 21 Palestinians were injured, including at least two with live ammunition. Overall, 126 Palestinian-owned trees were uprooted or vandalized near Israeli settlements next to Haris (Salfit), Qaryut (Nablus), and Deir Ibzi’ and Sinjil (both in Ramallah). In seven incidents, in the H2 area of Hebron city, as well as in Huwwara, Burin, Tell, Beita and Madama (all in Nablus), nine Palestinian-owned cars were vandalized, and stone-throwing reportedly damaged three Palestinian homes. Another nine incidents in Al Mazra’a al Qibliya, Al Mughayyir, and Deir Nidham (all in Ramallah), An Naqura, Beit Dajan, Einabus and Burqa (all in Nablus) resulted in damage to cultivated crops, livestock, agricultural equipment, water tanks and livelihood related structures. On 31 August, Israeli settlers, reportedly from Yitzhar, stormed the Urif school (Nablus) while classes were being held, and threw stones, forcing the administration to suspend school and evacuate the students to safety; 250 students were affected, and damage was reported to the school. According to the village council and eyewitnesses, Israeli Forces were present in the area during the attack but did not intervene to stop the settlers. Subsequently, Israeli Forces shot tear gas canisters at Palestinians who threw stones at settlers in protest at the attack.
• Two Israeli settlers were injured after Palestinians opened fire at their vehicle near the Joseph Tomb site in Nablus city. In another three incidents people known or believed to be Palestinians threw stones at Israeli vehicles travelling on West Bank roads. As a result, three vehicles were damaged, according to Israeli sources. 
• In the Gaza Strip, three Palestinians, including a 9 and 12-year-old boy, were injured by the detonation of an unexploded ordnance, after tampering with a munition they found while collecting scrap east of Khan Yunis. 
• Also in the Gaza Strip, on at least 42 occasions, Israeli forces opened warning fire near Israel’s perimeter fence or off the coast, presumably to enforce access restrictions in areas within Gaza. Most of the incidents reportedly forced farmers or fishers away from their areas of work. Two Palestinian children were arrested by Israeli forces while attempting to cross the fence east of Rafah. On at least seven occasions, Israeli military bulldozers leveled land inside Gaza, near the perimeter fence east of Rafah.