Israeli forces continued with systematic crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) for the week of 05 â 11 October, 2017.
5 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children, were wounded in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, while Israeli forces conducted 68 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and a limited one into the Gaza Strip.
Shooting:
During the reporting period, Israeli forces wounded 5 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli naval forces continued to chase Palestinian fishermen in the Sea and open fire at farmers and houses in the border areas.
In the West Bank, 05 October 2017, a Palestinian child was wounded when Israeli soldiers who established a checkpoint in al-Sweitat area, south of Jenin, opened fire at civilians in the vicinity of the checkpoint. The child was hit with a bullet to the right thigh and then arrested along with two other civilians. They were taken to al-Jalamah checkpoint, north of the city. The child was then transferred via a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance.
On 10 October 2017, a 14-year-ld child was wounded with a rubber-coated metal bullet to his right foot when Israeli forces opened fire at youngsters protesting against the soldiersâ incursion into al-Thaher area near âKarmei Tzurâ settlement, south of Beit Ummer village, north of Hebron.
On 11 October 2017, an 18-year-old civilian, from âAskar al-Jadid refugee camp, northeast of Nablus, was hit with 3 rubber-coated metal bullets to the back, left shoulder and right leg. He was wounded when Israeli forces moved into the city to secure the entry of dozens of buses carrying settlers to Josefâs Tomb in Balatet al-Balad, so dozens of children and youngsters protested against them.
In the Gaza Strip, the border areas witnessed protests against the on-going unjust closure on the Gaza population. During the protests, the Israeli forces used force against the protestors and opened fire in order to disperse them. As a result, 2 children were wounded; one of them in al-Brueij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip with a bullet to the right thigh and the other in eastern Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip with a bullet to the right leg.
In the pretext of targeting Palestinian fishermen in the Sea, on 05 October 2017, Israeli gunboats opened fire at the Palestinian fishing boats, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip and chased them. The shooting recurred in the same area on 07 October 2017.
On 06 October 2017, Israeli gunboats opened fire at the Palestinian fishing boats, west of al-Soudaniya, west of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, and chased them. The shooting recurred in the same area on 07 October 2017. The shooting forced the fishermen to flee for fear of being wounded. However, neither casualties nor damage to the boats were reported.
In the context of targeting the border areas, on 07 October 2017, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, north of Um al-Nasser âBedouni Villageâ in the northern Gaza Strip, sporadically opened fire at the border area. However, neither casualties nor damage to property were reported.
On 09 October 2017, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel opened fire at the lands and houses, east of al-Bureij and Gaza Valley village in the central Gaza Strip. Neither casualties nor damage to the property were reported.
On the same day, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired 2 artillery shells at a watchtower belonging to the Palestinian armed groups, east of al-Maghazi in the central Gaza Strip. As a result, the watchtower sustained damage, but no casualties were reported. Israeli forces re-shelled the abovmentioned watchtower on 11 October 2017.
Incursions:
During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 68 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During those incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 46 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children and a woman. Three of those were arrested in Jerusalem and its suburbs.
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In the Gaza Strip, on 10 October 2017, Israeli forces moved into the southeastern side of Beit Hanoun village in the northern Gaza Strip. They patrolled to the south and stationed off Abu Safiyah Military Site, east of Jabalia. They levelled and combed vacant lands previously levelled amist Israeli sporadic shooting. They later redeployed along the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Measures to Make Jewish Majority in occupied East Jerusalem
In the context of Israeli settlersâ attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property, hundreds of settlers raided al-Aqsa Mosque and is yards in East Jerusalemâs Old City while prayers and demonstrations were held in al-Buraq Wall yard and Silwan village, south of the mosque, to mark the Jewish Sukkot Holiday. As a result, the Israeli police closed the roads to the area, and a helicopter was hovering over the city.
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Settlement Activities and Settlersâ Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and their property:
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As part of settlersâ attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property, on 05 October 2017, 3 settlers near âShiloâ settlement on Ramallah-Nablus Road threw stones at a Palestinian civilian car carrying 3 civilians. As a result, its window was broken and one of the passengers was hit with a stone to the right side of his head. The wounded civilian was taken to Istishari Hospital in al-Rihan Suburb, north of Ramallah. Following medical check-up, it was found out that he suffered from a skull fracture and severe bleeding in his head, so he is in the ICU now due to his serious condition.
On 06 October 2017, Israeli settlers gathered on Bypass Road 60 near the sub-road leading to Kherbet al-Boqâah, east of Hebron, to throw stones at the Palestinian vehicles traveling on the road. As a result, the window of a car belonging to Nemer Jaber (40) was broken, and his daughter, Yafa, sustained glass shrapnel wounds. She was taken to the Hebron Governmental Hospital to receive medical treatment.
Restrictions on movement:
Israel continued to impose a tight closure of the oPt, imposing severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
The illegal closure of the Gaza Strip, which has been steadily tightened since June 2007 has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli authorities impose measures to undermine the freedom of trade, including the basic needs for the Gaza Strip population and the agricultural and industrial products to be exported. For 9 consecutive years, Israel has tightened the land and naval closure to isolate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and other countries around the world. This resulted in grave violations of the economic, social and cultural rights and a deterioration of living conditions for 2 million people. The Israeli authorities have established Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shaloum) as the sole crossing for imports and exports in order to exercise its control over the Gaza Stripâs economy. They also aim at imposing a complete ban on the Gaza Stripâs exports. The Israeli closure raised the rate of poverty to 65%. Moreover, the rate of unemployment increased up to 47% and youth constitutes 65% of the unemployed persons. Moreover, 80% of the Gaza Strip population depends on international aid to secure their minimum daily needs. These rates indicate the unprecedented economic deterioration in the Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, Israeli forces continued to suffocate the Palestinian cities and village by imposing military checkpoints around and/or between them. This created âcantonsâ isolated from each other that hinders the movement of civilians. Moreover, the Palestinian civilians suffering aggravated because of the annexation wall and checkpoints erected on daily basis to catch Palestinians.
Israeli settlersâ attacks against Palestinian civilians and property
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Israeli settlersâ attacks:
Abed Yousef al-âObaidy, one of the vehicleâs passengers, said to PCHRâs fieldworker that,
âAt approximately 20:30 on Thursday, 05 October 2017, my friends, Mohamed Jaraârah (26), from âAsira village, north of Nablus; and Ghassan Qasrawi, from Masliya village, southeast of Jenin; and I were heading to our work from Nablus to Bethlehem via a car driven by Ghassan as we are officers at the Palestinian National Security Service. While we were on our way near âShiloâ settlement, we saw 3 Israeli settlers on the right side of Ramallah-Nablus Main Road. One of the settlers had a torch and sporadically pointing it towards us. I said to Ghassan: slow down. I think this is the Israeli police. We were around 100 meter away from them. Ghassan slowly drove and when we approached them, we then knew they were Israeli settlers. In the meantime, one of them threw stones at the right window, which was closed, and broke it. Another settler threw stone at the right rear window next to Mohammed, so he was hit with the stone to the head. Mohamed shouted and was bleeding. I quickly told Ghassan to head to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. Mohamed received medical treatment and underwent a CT scan, which showed that he suffers from a skull fractur and severe bleeding in the head. He was then transferred to the Isitishari Hospital in al-Rihan suburb.â
Recommendations to the International Community
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PCHR warns of the escalating settlement construction in the West Bank, the attempts to legitimize settlement outposts established on Palestinian lands in the West Bank and the continued summary executions of Palestinian civilians under the pretext that they pose a security threat to the Israeli forces. PCHR reminds the international community that thousands of Palestinian civilians have been rendered homeless and lived in caravans under tragic circumstances due to the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip that has been under a tight closure for almost 10 years. PCHR welcomes the UN Security Councilâs Resolution No. 2334, which states that settlements are a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions and calls upon Israel to stop them and not to recognize any demographic change in the oPt since 1967. PCHR hopes this resolution will pave the way for eliminating the settlement crime and bring to justice those responsible for it. PCHR further reiterates that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are still under Israeli occupation in spite of Israelâs unilateral disengagement plan of 2005. PCHR emphasizes that there is international recognition of Israelâs obligation to respect international human rights instruments and international humanitarian law. Israel is bound to apply international human rights law and the law of war, sometimes reciprocally and other times in parallel, in a way that achieves the best protection for civilians and remedy for the victims.
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