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Photo:
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) graphic for May 5, 2021 Published by IMEMC News
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by IMEMC News
May 7, 2021

Summary for April 29 – May 5, 2021
Israeli forces continued to commit crimes and multi-layered violations against Palestinian civilians and their properties, including raids into Palestinian cities that are characterized with excessive use of force, assault, abuse and attacks on civilians that are mostly conducted after midnight and in the early morning hours. This week, the Israeli army’s repression against Jerusalemites in Bab al-‘Amoud (Damascus Gate), which leads to al-Aqsa Mosque; as well as the repeated assaults on Sheikh Jarrah sit-in in protest to the Israeli occupation’s attempts to evacuate several houses in a forcible deportation policy. As a result, dozens of civilians sustained wounds and dozens of others were arrested. Settler-attacks on Palestinian civilians and their properties have increased, particularly in Nablus. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) documented 244 Israeli violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL) by the army and settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

Army shooting and violation of right to bodily integrity:

Israeli forces killed a child and a 60 year old woman this week, and caused the injury of 63 others in an escalation of its attacks on the West Bank. On 5 May 2021, Said Y. M. Odeh (16) was killed and his cousin was wounded in clashes near Odala checkpoint, southeast of Nablus.
On Sunday evening, 02 May 2021, an elderly Palestinian woman succumbed to her serious wounds after IOF directly opened fire at her, claiming she attempted to carry out a stab attack near the “Gush Etzion” settlement junction, south of Bethlehem. According to PCHR’s investigations and in a video published on Israeli social media, the old woman posed no imminent danger to the soldiers’ lives and could have been controlled without lethal force.

The injuries were as follows:

1 Palestinian civilian was wounded at Gush Etzion checkpoint for alleged stab-attack;
3 others, including a child, during repression of a protest in Beit Dajan, Nablus;
A child in an army incursion into Beita, Nablus;
A child in an army assault on a protest in Jenin;
Two civilians in an army assault on Kufur Qaddoum protest, Qalqilia; and
50 Palestinian civilians sustained bruises and stun grenades shrapnel wounds during the army’s use of excessive physical assaults on Sheikh Jarrah solidarity sit-in.
Dozens of others suffocated due to tear gas inhalation, and others were wounded in various army assaults across the West Bank.
In the Gaza Strip, 4 army shootings were reported on agricultural lands eastern Gaza, and 9 shootings at fishing boats, western Gaza.

Army incursions and detention of Palestinian civilians:

The Israeli forces carried out 135 incursions into the West Bank, including the invasion of civilian houses, shootings, and attacks against civilians. During this week’s incursions, 89 Palestinians were detained, including 10 children and 3 women. The army imposed a tight siege on several villages in Nablus and shut their entrances with sand berms; the army conducted a wide-scale raid operation in Aqraba under its collective punishment policy against Palestinians after a shooting occurred at Za’tara checkpoint earlier in the week.

Demolitions:

PCHR fieldworkers documented two violations:

A barracks (mechanic) and a car wash were demolished in southwestern Bethlehem; and another barracks and car wash were demolished in Hebron.

Settler-attacks:

PCHR fieldworkers reported and documented 8 attacks:

. . .

Israeli closure policy and restrictions on freedom of movement:

The Gaza Strip still suffers the worst closure in the history of the Israeli occupation of the oPt as it has entered the 14th consecutive year, without any improvement to the movement of persons and goods, humanitarian conditions and bearing catastrophic consequences on all aspects of life. The United Nations confirmed that the Gaza conditions are worsening, with deteriorating health, power, and water services. The UN emphasized that the Gaza Strip requires immense efforts in the housing and education sectors and to create job opportunities.

Meanwhile, occupation forces continued to divide the West Bank into separate cantons with key roads blocked by the Israeli occupation since the Second Intifada and with temporary and permanent checkpoints, where civilian movement is restricted, and they are subject to arrest.

Read full report at New Source Links

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