Protection of Civilians Report | 5-18 October 2021

Highlights from the reporting period

• Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy and injured and arrested another, while both were throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles, according to Israeli sources. The incident occurred on 14 October, near the Tunnels Checkpoint, which controls access from the southern West Bank to the Jerusalem area. Also on 14 October, a Palestinian man ran over and seriously injured an Israeli Border Police officer at a flying checkpoint in the Qalandiya area (Jerusalem); Israeli forces shot and seriously wounded the man in the head.
• Overall, Israeli forces injured 159 Palestinians across the West Bank. The majority, 115, were wounded during regular protests against settlement activities near Beita (90) and Beit Dajan (25) in the Nablus governorate. Another eight Palestinians were treated after inhaling tear gas shot by Israeli forces who intervened during a raid by settlers in Burin village in Nablus (see below). The remaining injuries were documented mainly during clashes at checkpoints. Overall, five Palestinians were shot by live ammunition and 25 by rubber bullets, 21 were physically assaulted or hit by sound grenades, and the rest were treated for teargas inhalation. In addition to those injured directly by Israeli forces, five Palestinians were reportedly injured while running away from Israeli forces, or in circumstances that could not be verified, in Beita village.
• Increased violence was recorded around the old city of Jerusalem, where many were injured or arrested. On 10 October, Palestinians demonstrated against the bulldozing of parts of an Islamic cemetery close to the old city, with some of them setting fire to a container that belongs to the Jerusalem Municipality. The bulldozing started last year but was halted after a legal appeal, and then resumed after an Israeli court order. Overall during the reporting period around the old city, 24 Palestinians were hit by sound grenades or rubber bullets shot by Israeli forces; three Israelis, including two settlers and a Border Police officer, were physically assaulted by Palestinians; and 19 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces.
• Israeli forces carried out 113 search-and-arrest operations and arrested about 150 Palestinians across the West Bank. The most affected governorate was Jerusalem.
• On at least 23 occasions, Israeli forces opened warning fire near the perimeter fence and off the coast of Gaza, ostensibly to enforce access restrictions. No injuries were reported. Israeli military bulldozers conducted land-levelling inside Gaza, near the perimeter fence in the Rafah area. Separately, Israeli forces confiscated a fishing vessel anchoring six nautical miles (NM) away from Gaza’s shore, in the Rafah area, well inside the current fishing area as declared by the Israeli authorities, at 15 NM off Gaza’s southern shore. Israeli forces also arrested two Palestinians, including a boy, who reportedly attempted to enter Israel through the perimeter fence.
• The Israeli authorities demolished or seized 23 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C on the grounds of lacking Israeli-issued building permits, displacing four people. The displaced were in the herding community of Az Za’ayyem (Jerusalem). Twelve structures, mainly residential, were dismantled in Ras at Tin herding community in Ramallah, affecting 50 people. An estimated 350 farmers and their families were affected by the demolition of a paved agricultural road in Tayasir community, in the Jordan Valley. The remaining demolitions included livelihood structures in Haris (Salfit) and Ma’in (Hebron). 
• Israeli settlers injured seven Palestinians, and people known or believed to be settlers damaged or stole the harvest from over 1,600, mainly olive, trees. Four of those injured were stoned by Israeli settlers who raided the village of Burin (Nablus) and caused damage to houses and trees. A woman was pepper-sprayed by settlers, who also stoned other Palestinians picking olives in Yasuf village, Nablus. The other two were injured in Hebron. Since the start of the annual olive harvest on 12 October, over 1,400 trees, mainly olive trees, have been vandalized or had their crops stolen in villages around Nablus, Hebron, Salfit and Ramallah, as indicated by Palestinian farmers, eyewitness and landowners, in some cases supported by reports from the Ministry of Agriculture. Many of these trees were planted on Palestinian-owned land near settlements. The remaining 200 damaged trees were reported by their owners, just before the start of the season. Settlers also vandalized several cars in Marda (Salfit) and Beit Iksa and the Silwan neighborhood (both in Jerusalem). 
• People known or believed to be Palestinians threw stones at Israeli-plated vehicles in the Ramallah governorate, injuring a settler. According to Israeli sources, stone throwing damaged 22 Israeli-plated cars throughout the West Bank.