OPT: Protection of civilians weekly report, 22 - 28 Apr 2009

West Bank

Military activities affecting civilians

Violence in the West Bank increased sharply during the reporting period, with 51 Palestinians, including nine children, injured in Israeli military activities, more than twice the average number of Palestinian weekly injuries in 2008. Of the Palestinians injured in the West Bank, four were shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition. In Ramallah governorate, a Palestinian farmer from Rantis village was shot and injured with live ammunition by Israeli forces while tending his land near the Barrier. The farmer remains in serious condition. In an incident near Tarqumiya checkpoint in the Hebron governorate, Israeli forces shot and injured a mentally impaired Palestinian man from the town of Halhul, who had been ordered to stop. The remaining two injuries by Israeli live fire occurred in an Israeli settler incident. (See Israeli-settler incidents section below).

Three separate incidents of IDF assaults on Palestinians at checkpoints occurred this week. At a checkpoint in Jericho, three Palestinian civilian males from Tulkarm were physically assaulted by the Israeli soldiers staffing the checkpoint. In another incident, on 23 April, two Palestinian men were stopped in Tura al Gharbiya village (Jenin) by Israeli troops and physically assaulted. Three days later, a Palestinian man was physically assaulted in Huwwara (Nablus) by Israeli Border Police. The reasons for the assaults are unclear.

The number of Israeli military search operations rose for the second consecutive week, (115 vs. 104 in the previous week), and is higher than the 2008 weekly average (103). The number of Israeli arrests of Palestinians also rose (from 60 arrests the previous week to 77 arrests during the current reporting period), but remains below the 2008 average of 84 arrests per week.

Anti-Barrier and other demonstrations

During the reporting period, weekly anti-Barrier demonstrations were held in Nil'in and Bil'in villages (Ramallah). Palestinians injured in weekly anti-Barrier demonstrations rose sharply to 33, including six children. Most injuries occurred in Bil'in village (25 injuries, including three children) in the aftermath of the 17 April demonstration where a Palestinian was killed by an Israeli-fired tear-gas canister. Weekly anti-Barrier demonstrations have recurred in Bil'in village since 2005. In September 2007, the Israeli High Court ruled for the rerouting of the Barrier built on Bil'in land. However, there have been no implemented changes in the Barrier's route.