5 Palestinians, including a civilian, were killed, and 17 others, including a child and a woman, were injured, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
Details are as follows:
On 06 July 2023, Ahmed Yaseen Helal Ghaydan (18), from Ramallah, was shot dead by IOF after carrying out a shooting attack near “Kedumim” settlement, between Qalqilya and Nablus. The attack resulted in the killing of an Israeli soldier and the injury of the settlement’s security guard.
On 07 July 2023, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian namely ‘Abed al-Jawad Hamdan Saleh (24) during clashes that broke out in Ramallah although he posed no threat to the Israeli soldiers’ lives.
On the same day, two members of Palestinian armed groups: Khairy Mohammed Shaheen (34) and Hamza Moayad Mohammed Maqboul (32) were killed in an extrajudicial execution crime in Nablus after they were cordoned in one of the city’s houses. Also, 3 Palestinians were injured by IOF during the operation.
On 10 July 2023, Belal Ibrahim Qadeh (33) was shot dead by IOF near Deir Nidham village, northwest of Ramallah. IOF claimed that Qadeh tried to throw a bomb at them, while there was no Palestinian eyewitness to the incident.
Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.
On 06 July 2023, a Palestinian was injured when IOF opened fire at Palestinian vehicles in Tell village, south of Nablus, after they established a temporary checkpoint in the area.
On 07 July 2023, 5 Palestinians, including a child, were shot with rubber-coated bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kufur Qaddoum weekly peaceful protest, east of Qalqilia.
On 08 July 2023, 4 Palestinians were shot with live and rubber-coated bullets by IOF while the latter was protecting the Israeli settlers who conducted attacks on Kufur Qaddoum village, east of Qalqilia.
On the same day, a Palestinian was injured with a live bullet in his back by IOF who opened fire at him during clashes that broke out in Beit Ummar village in Hebron.
On 09 July 2023, IOF opened fire at a woman, wounding her in the lower limbs. IOF claimed that she tried to carry out a stabbing attack in the Light Rail station on Haim Bar Lev Street adjacent to Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The woman was then arrested by IOF.
On 11 July 2023, a Palestinian sustained a bullet injury in his neck when IOF opened fire at him during the their incursion into ‘Askar al-Jadeed refugee camp, east of Nablus.
On 12 July 2023, a Palestinian was shot with a live bullet in his foot by IOF during their incursion into Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 3 Palestinians.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 3 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, while 4 shootings were reported on fishing boats off western Gaza shores.
So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 194 Palestinians, including 96 civilians, amongst them 33 children, 6 women and a person with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 6 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 979 Palestinians, including 147 children, 30 women and 16 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Land Razing, Demolitions, Notices, and Settlement
IOF displaced 4 families of 15, including 7 children and 4 women, after demolishing 3 houses and housing units, taking over a house and handing it to settlers, destroying two facilities, and razing agricultural lands.
On 06 July 2023, IOF levelled 12 dunams and uprooted 340 olive trees in the village of Rafat, west of Salfit, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).
On 07 July 2023, IOF forced Ehab Khalayleh to self-demolish his 100-sqm house in Jabal Al-Mukaber in East Jerusalem, upon an Israeli municipal decision allegedly for unlicensed construction, displacing a family of 3, including a girl.
On 08 July 2023, IOF forced Kayed Edkidek to self-demolish his 70-sqm residential apartment in the Old City of East Jerusalem upon an Israeli municipal decision allegedly for unlicensed construction, rendering a family of 6, including 4 children, homeless.
On 10 July 2023, IOF forced Mohammad Al-Julani to self-demolish his two 70-sqm commercial facilities in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem, upon an Israeli municipal decision under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
On the same day, IOF confiscated 4 vehicles (excavator, a grader, and two trucks delivering basecourse), after they forced Atara municipality staff to stop re-constructing a road leading to Khirbet Tarfin, north of Ramallah.
On 11 July 2023, IOF took over the family house of Ms. Noura Sab Laban in Aqabat al-Khalidiya neighborhood in East Jerusalem to Galetzia Trust, a private Jewish settler organization, after they forced its residents out and seized it by force.
Ahmad Sab Laban, the son of the house’s owner, said that IOF forcibly evicted his parents from their home, and allowed many settlers to raid and seize it and change its features, as they changed its doors and installed iron grills on its windows. The seizure came after decades-long court hearings and harassment that have ended with evicting the family and settlers’ taking over the house.
On 12 July 2023, IOF bulldozed a dirt street in southern Al-Dhahiriya town in Hebron. IOF also demolished a water tank in Al-Baqa’a village, east of Hebron, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).
On the same day, IOF demolished a 70-sqm house belonging to Hani Al-Sayyad in al-Tur village in East Jerusalem, rendering a family of 4, including a woman and two children, homeless.
Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 109 families homeless, a total of 671 persons, including 143 women and 299 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 113 houses; 27 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 13 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 91 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Settler-attacks and Retaliatory Acts
On 06 July 2023, settlers threw stones at the Palestinians’ vehicles traveling near the entrance to “Karnei Shomron” settlement, east of Qalqilia. Settlers also threw stones at Palestinians’ vehicles near the Burin village intersection and near Huwwara checkpoint in Nablus.
Settlers attacked a Palestinian and his son near the western entrance to Burqa village, north of Nablus, causing them bruises.
In the evening, settlers, under IOF’s protection, attacked Palestinian homes in the outskirts of Kafr Laqef village, east of Qalqilia.
On 07 July 2023, settlers attacked an ambulance belonging to a governmental hospital in Salfit, causing damage to the vehicle. The ambulance was transferring a newborn with skull and face fractures.
On the same day, settlers from “Kiryat Arab” settlement, established on Palestinian lands confiscated from eastern Hebron, threw stones at Palestinian vehicles travelling on Bypass Road (60). However, no injuries were reported.
On 08 July 2023, settlers fenced with a barbed wire part of Palestinian lands on top of a mountain between Beit Furik and the village of Rojib, east of Nablus, in an attempt to seize it.
On the same day, settlers, under IOF’s protection, raided Palestinian lands in the village of Kufur Qaddoum, east of Qalqilia, and tried to set agricultural lands ablaze. Palestinians confronted the settlers and clashes broke out; as a result, 4 Palestinians were injured.
Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 268 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.
IOF Incursions and Arrest of Palestinians
IOF carried out 196 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 97 Palestinians were arrested, including 5 children and 2 women.
So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 5,096 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,892 Palestinians were arrested, including 26 women and 326 children. Also, IOF arrested 39 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including 17 fishermen and 20 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travellers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 19 incursions.
Israeli Closure, Restrictions on Freedom of Movement, and Collective Punishment
Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip
In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 128 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 5 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
On 07 July 2023, IOF closed the detector gate at the main entrance to Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit, and prevented Palestinians from entering and leaving through it.
So far in 2023, IOF have established 3,193 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 140 Palestinians at those checkpoints.
