Description

JERUSALEM, November 12, 2011 (WAFA) – A total of 22 Palestinians were injured and over 100 olive trees damaged in clashes and settler attacks between October 26 and November 1st, according to the Protection of Civilians Weekly Report issued Saturday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

During the week, when the Israeli government announced plans to construct 2,000 new settlement housing units in the Jerusalem area, Palestinian injuries and property losses continued to occur in protests against access restrictions aimed at protecting existing settlements, as well as in settler attacks.

OCHA documented six settler attacks leading to casualties or property damage, all of which took place in the context of the olive harvest.

In three additional incidents, settlers attacked Palestinian farmers, stealing their olive crop or forcing the farmers to leave. The incidents occurred in the northern West Bank in the vicinity of Israeli settlements, during times allocated by the Israeli authorities for farmers to harvest their olives under IDF protection (“prior coordination regime”).

In the same period, Israeli authorities demolished 13 structures in Area C, which is completely under Israeli control, due to the lack of building permits. This displaced 29 people, including 21 children, and raised concern about the imminent implementation of a plan to transfer 20 Bedouin communities (about 2,500 people) from that area, most of which is planned for the expansion of Ma’ale Adumim settlement.

In addition, OCHA reported that after more than two months of relative calm, a serious escalation in violence took place in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, leaving 12 Palestinian militants and one Israeli civilian dead, and another ten Palestinians, including two civilians, as well as three Israeli civilians injured.

The report said the escalation highlighted the fragility of the calm that has prevailed in previous months and the vulnerability of the civilian population on both sides.

Israeli restrictions on Palestinian access to areas up to 1,500 meters from the fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip, and fishing areas beyond three nautical miles from the shore, continue to hinder the livelihoods of thousands of people in the Gaza Strip.

In one incident in the vicinity of the fence, Israeli forces fired warning shots towards a Palestinian shepherd, injuring him. In another incident, the Israeli Navy detained two fishermen and confiscated their boats; one of the fishermen was later released, added the report.

R.Q./F.J.