Protection of Civilians Report | 7-20 September 2021

Highlights from the reporting period

• One Palestinian was shot and killed and two others were wounded while stabbing or allegedly attempting to stab Israeli forces or civilians. On 10 September, a 50-year-old Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli policeman in the Old City of Jerusalem, and was shot by Israeli forces; he succumbed to his wounds later that day. On 13 September, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy stabbed two Israeli civilians in West Jerusalem and was then shot by an Israeli policeman and admitted to hospital in a critical condition. That same day, another Palestinian, aged 27, allegedly tried to stab an Israeli soldier at the Gush Etzion junction (Bethlehem) and was shot and arrested by Israeli forces. 
• Overall, Israeli forces injured 568 Palestinians, including 73 children, across the West Bank. Of those, 320 were injured during ongoing protests against settlement activities in the Nablus governorate, including near the villages of Beita (290 people) and in Beit Dajan (30). Another 183 Palestinians were injured in protests held in solidarity with the six Palestinians who had escaped from an Israeli prison on 6 September (all have since been recaptured). The remaining injuries were recorded in the Hebron governorate, in incidents where Palestinians threw stones and Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and live ammunition. Overall, six of the wounded Palestinians were shot with live ammunition, 138 were hit by rubber bullets, three were physically assaulted or hit by a tear gas canister, and the rest were treated for tear gas inhalation. In addition to the 568 people who were injured directly by Israeli forces, 46 Palestinians were injured either while running away from Israeli forces or in circumstances that could not be verified in Beita and Nablus city.
• Of the abovementioned injuries, over 55 pupils and teachers were teargassed by Israeli forces in six schools.  In the H2 area of Hebron city, Palestinian students reportedly threw stones at Israeli forces and the latter shot tear gas canisters at a nearby school compound; six students and 46 teachers were treated for tear gas inhalation and the three schools were evacuated due to the intensity of the gas. In another incident where clashes were reported in Anata town (Jerusalem), Israeli forces also fired tear gas canisters into the yards of one school; two girls and one teacher were taken to hospital, and classes were suspended for the remainder of the day, affecting over 500 pupils. 
• Israeli forces carried out 90 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 99 Palestinians across the West Bank. Most of the operations took place in the Hebron and Bethlehem governorates. 
• In Gaza, Palestinian armed groups fired rockets at Israel on four occasions, and Israeli forces carried out air strikes, reportedly targeting armed groups’ positions and open fields. The rockets were intercepted by the Israeli military, but four Israelis, including a child, were injured while running to shelters. The air strikes caused damage to a house, a farm, and armed groups’ positions.  
• On at least 12 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 a land-levelling operation inside Gaza, near the perimeter fence, in the Beit Lahiya area.
• During the reporting period, no demolitions were reported across the West Bank except for two structures that were demolished by their owners in East Jerusalem, to avoid paying fines. Israeli forces delivered a stop-work order to a donor-funded school in Hammamat al Maleh (Tubas), where 50 pupils study. 
• Israeli settlers injured a Palestinian boy, and people known or believed to be settlers vandalized trees and damaged houses and vehicles across the West Bank. The boy, aged 16, was physically assaulted in the H2 area of Hebron. In separate incidents in H2, settlers cut down fences surrounding a house and stole 12 newly-planted grape vines and a water pump. According to local sources, about 100 trees and saplings were vandalized in Ash Shuyukh (Hebron), Kisan (Bethlehem) and Sinjil (Ramallah). In Burin village (Nablus) and the Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, settlers threw stones at houses and vehicles, causing damage. Israeli settlers threw stones at houses in the H2 area and, in one incident, shot at a Palestinian; no injuries were reported. On 17 September, Israeli civilians stabbed a Palestinian bus driver in West Jerusalem (not included in the count above).
• People known or believed to be Palestinians threw stones at Israeli-plated vehicles in the Jerusalem and Bethlehem governorates, injuring two settlers. According to Israeli sources, stone throwing damaged 25 Israeli-plated cars throughout the West Bank.