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(Weekly Update | April 13-26, 2023)

by Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

Violation of Right to Life and Bodily Integrity
[This report covers 2 weeks due to ‘Eid al-Fitr holiday]

Two Palestinians were killed, and 23 others were injured, including 4 children, a woman and a paramedic, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attacks in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. In the Gaza Strip, several houses and facilities sustained material damage due to Israeli airstrikes.

Details are as follows:

On 24 April 2023, Suliman ‘Ayish ‘Owaid (22) succumbed to his wounds only hours after being arrested. ‘Owaid and 3 other Palestinians were wounded by an Israeli Special Force when the latter sneaked into ‘Aqabat Jaber refugee camp in Jericho. According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at around 03:14, an Israeli Special Force sneaked via a cargo truck and a Volkswagen Caravelle van into the camp and opened fire at a group of Palestinian young men present in front of a house, wounding 4 of them. The young men managed to evacuate two of those injured to Jericho Hospital, while the 2 others remained on the ground and the Special Force pulled them to an empty warehouse in the area, where they were stripped of their clothes, arrested, and taken away after 40 minutes. At approximately 20:30, IOF declared that death of one the wounded namely Suliman ‘Owaid and kept his body.

On the same day, Hatem As’ad Abu Najma (39), from Beit Safafa village in occupied East Jerusalem, was killed after being shot with several live bullets by an Israeli settler, claiming that he carried out a run-over attack at Agribous intersection adjacent to Machaneh Yehudah Market in central West Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF’s incursion into the Palestinian cities and villages, or IOF’s suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians, and they were as follows:

On 14 April 2023, 3 Palestinians, including a child, were shot with rubber-coated bullets in their limbs during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddoum weekly protest in northern Qalqilya.
On 17 April 2023, a Palestinian was shot with a live bullet in his abdomen by IOF in Neve Ya’akov neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext that he set an Israeli vehicle ablaze in the area, according to a statement by the Israeli police.

On 18 April 2023, a child was shot with a live bullet in his foot during clashes with IOF after the latter’s incursion into Beit Ummar village in Hebron. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 3 Palestinians, including a child.

On the same day, 8 Palestinians were injured by IOF fire during clashes that accompanied the latter’s incursion into Jenin refugee camp. Due to the IOF shooting, the main power transformer in the camp was damaged and led to a power outage. Also, the shooting hit the walls of an UNRWA Clinic in the camp causing damage to the building and an ambulance that tried to evacuate those injured. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 3 Palestinians and confiscated a car belonging to one of the arrestees.

Moreover, a Palestinian woman was injured with 2 live bullets in her shoulder and leg after IOF opened fire at her claiming that she carried out a stabbing attack that injured an Israeli settler near Gush Etzion settlement intersection in southern Bethlehem. The wounded woman was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in West Jerusalem for treatment while she is under arrest.

Also, a Palestinian sustained bruises after being severely beaten by IOF who stopped his vehicle at a checkpoint at the northern entrance to Jericho.

On 21 April 2023, 3 Palestinians were shot with live and rubber-coated bullets, and others suffocated during clashes with IOF after the latter’s incursion into Beita village, southeast of Nablus, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr.

On 24 April 2023, 3 Palestinians, including 2 children and a paramedic, were shot with rubber-coated bullets, and hit with a stun grenade during IOF’s suppression of Palestinians who tried to stop IOF’s confiscation of a vehicle in Qarawat Bani Hassan village, west of Salfit.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 11 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, and 9 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the Western Gaza shores.

So far in 2023, IOF attacks killed 99 Palestinians, including 51 civilians; 16 of them were children and 1 woman, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 7 killed by settlers, and one died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 456 Palestinians, including 60 children, 3 women and 11 journalists, were injured.

Land Razing, Demolitions, and Notices
IOF demolished 6 shops, confiscated lands and vehicles, and handed dozens of cease-construction notices in the West Bank.

. . .

Since the beginning of 2023, IOF made 64 families homeless, a total of 406 persons, including 81 women and 183 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 67 houses; 16 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 6 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 64 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 on Palestinian Civilians and Their Properties
Israeli settlers seized a house and assaulted Palestinians and their vehicles in 6 attacks in the West Bank.

. . .

Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 180 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them after being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.

Violations of Freedom of Worship
On 15 April 2023, IOF intensified their deployment around occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City and in its alleys, closing some of its gates with iron barriers, and turned it into a military barrack. They hindered the access of thousands of Christian worshipers to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City to participate in the celebrations of Holy Saturday, which precedes Easter.

. . .

IOF Incursions and Arrests of Palestinian Civilians
IOF carried out 294 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, at least 158 Palestinians were arrested, including 10 children and 2 women.
. . .

So far in 2023, IOF conducted 3292 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2011 Palestinians were arrested, including 25 women and 242 children. Also, IOF arrested 27 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including 10 fishermen and 14 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travellers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 10 incursions.

Israeli Closure and Restrictions on Freedom of Movement and Collective Punishment Policy

Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.

. . .

So far in 2023, IOF established 1958 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 88 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

Read full report at IMEMC News Source Link

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