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Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Weekly Update

17-23 August 2023

Violation of right to life and bodily integrity:

Two Palestinians, including a child, were killed, and 2 others succumbed to their injuries, while 42 other Palestinians, including 9 children, were wounded. Meanwhile, dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in attacks by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

Details are as follows:

On 17 August 2023, Mostafa Akram Qumbu’a (29), member of the Palestinian armed groups, was killed after being shot with several live bullets in his head, chest and abdomen in an exchange of fire with IOF who raided a house, where Qumbu’a was fortified in Jenin. IOF blew up part of the house, causing damage to it and to the bakery below. During the incursion, 2 Palestinians, including a 34-year-old woman working in the allied medical professions at the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH), were injured. The woman was shot by IOF with 2 live bullets in her abdomen and chest while heading to work. Also, IOF arrested 2 Palestinians, including Mostafa Qumbu’s brother.

On the same day, medical sources at Hadassah Medical Center in West Jerusalem announced the death of Ahmed Fadel Abu Isninah (31), succumbing to a pervious rubber bullet injury in his left eye during clashes that broke out following IOF’s raid into al-Aqsa Mosque on 07 May 2021. At that time, IOF assaulted Palestinian worshipers performing al-Taraweeh prayer; as a result, Isninah sustained skull fractures and lost his left eye. Over the past two years, he had suffered from injury complications, including severe headaches. In early July, Ahmed’s health condition deteriorated, so he was taken to the hospital, where it turned out that he had an infection in his injured eye, affecting his brain and vital organs. As a result, Ahmed was put on a respirator at Hadassah Medical Center until medical sources pronounced him dead, succumbing to his injury.
. . .

So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 216 Palestinians, including 106 civilians; amongst them 39 children, 6 women and a Palestinian with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 8 children, 9 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 1077 Palestinians, including 161 children, 31 women and 16 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Land Razing, Demolitions, Notices, and Settlement

On 17 August 2023, The District Planning and Building Committee at the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem approved a new plan to expand Ramot and Pisgat Ze’ev settlements, which are established on the Palestinian lands of northeastern East Jerusalem and build 2430 new settlement units. The Committee also approved building two hotels with 500 rooms in Jabal Al-Mukaber, southeast of the city.

On the same day, the Israeli authorities dismantled a 60-sqm barrack built of tinplate in Homsa al-Tahta village in central Jordan Valley under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).

. . .

Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 136 families homeless, a total of 796 persons, including 174 women and 352 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 140 houses; 34 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 14 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 103 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 18 August 2023, settlers, under IOF’s protection, stole a fence, expelled volunteers, and international solidarity activists from Palestinians’ lands in Farkha village, southwest of Salfit, and prevented them from ploughing the land, claiming that the area is classified as Area (C).

. . .

Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 299 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.

Freedom of Journalism

On 21 August 2023, IOF detained three journalists while covering the closure of the southern Hebron entrance and forced them to delete videos of the incident. The journalists were identified as: Mamoun Isma’il Wazouz, a photographer for Anadolu Agency, Yusri Mahmoud al-Jamal, photographer at Reuters, and Moussa ‘Issa Al-Qawasmeh, photographer at Reuters.
On 22 August 2023, the Israeli soldiers detained journalists Luay Mehbash ‘Amr, a freelance journalist, and ‘Abdul-Mohsen Tayseer Shalaldeh, a photographer for J Media Agency, near Beit ‘Einoun Road, east of Hebron, and deleted what they captured at the checkpoint, ordering them to leave under threat.

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

Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 17-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 196 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested several Palestinians at those checkpoints.

On 18 August 2023, IOF tightened their military measures in the vicinity of Huwara village and the nearby ‘Aqraba, Osrin, Beita and Yatma villages in Nablus, and closed some sub roads with sand berms. They established checkpoints at the entrances to those villages in order to search the vehicles coming in and out as part of collective punishment measures following a shooting attack that killed settlers in Huwara.

On 21 August 2023, IOF closed all Hebron entrances connecting the bypass roads, established military checkpoints at all the main and sub entrances to the City (around 27 entrances and roads) that lead to nearby villages and towns, and prevented Palestinians to pass whether by vehicles or on foot for 12 hours. At some military checkpoints, IOF fired stun grenades and teargas canisters at Palestinians who were stuck there as many of them suffocated. This came as part of collective punishment measures following a shooting attack that killed a female settler in eastern Hebron.

This week, IOF re-closed many checkpoints and intersections in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem multiple times, and tightened restrictions at them for several hours before reopening them later.

So far in 2023, IOF have established 4,019 temporary military checkpoints and arrested dozens of Palestinians at those checkpoints.

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