Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 24 - 30 March 2015 [EN/AR/HE]

Weekly Highlights

• A 20-year-old Palestine refugee died of injuries, sustained the previous week, when he was shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition in the back, during clashes near Al Jalazun Refugee Camp with Palestinian stone-throwers.

• During the week, 64 Palestinians, including five children, were injured across the oPt in the context of demonstrations, during which clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian stone-throwers. The majority of injuries took place during demonstrations in commemoration of “Land Day” in both the West Bank (42 injuries) and in the Access Restricted Areas (ARA) near the fence in the Gaza Strip (five injuries). Other clashes resulting in Palestinian injuries occurred during West Bank protests, most of which take place on a weekly basis: against the construction of the Barrier in Bil’in (Ramallah); against settlement expansion in An Nabi Saleh (Ramallah); against the closure of one of the main entrances to Kafr Qaddum (Qalqiliya); and against the killing of the Palestinian from Al Jalazun Refugee Camp. In a serious incident next to Shu’fat checkpoint (Jerusalem), near ongoing clashes, Israeli forces shot and injured with rubber bullets a 9-year-old girl while on her way back from school.

• Israeli forces conducted 110 search and arrest operations and arrested 132 Palestinians in the West Bank, mainly in the Jerusalem governorate. Another two Palestinians were arrested near the fence surrounding Gaza, while attempting to cross into Israel without permits.

• The Israeli authorities demolished three Palestinian structures in Ti’nnik village (Jenin) in Area C of the West Bank, including an artesian well on which residents depend for drinking water and irrigation, for lack of Israeli-issued building permits. On similar grounds, in Area C, Israeli authorities delivered demolition and stop-work orders against at least 30 structures, in the Nablus and Hebron governorates; confiscated irrigation pipelines in Ad Deir community (Tubas) in the Jordan Valley, provided as part of a project implemented by the Palestinian Department of Agriculture to support farmers; and delivered four evacuation orders against 15 dunums of land in Qusra (Nablus).

• Israel’s State Attorney requested the Israeli High Court of Justice to lift a temporary injunction preventing the execution of pending demolition orders against most structures in the Palestinian community of Susiya (350 people). The State Attorney also expressed Israel’s intention to “relocate” this community to a nearby site, and said that the clearance of the area is needed to allow for archeological excavations.

• The Palestinian owners of a plot of land on which 1,200 olive saplings had been planted discovered that 1,100 saplings had been stolen, and 100 uprooted and broken, reportedly by settlers, on land located between the settlement of Asfar and the outpost of Pnei Kedem, near Ash Shuyukh village (Hebron), affecting 20 Palestinian families. This is the second such attack in two months in the same location, which, besides the owners, is accessible to settlers only. Since the beginning of the year, across the West Bank, 8202 trees and saplings have been uprooted, already forming 87 per cent of the total number of trees uprooted across the West Bank, in the whole of 2014.

• Three Palestinian attacks resulting in Israeli injuries or property damage were reported by the Israeli media in East Jerusalem, including the injury of a four-year-old child as a result of stone-throwing and damage to a settler’s residence and a vehicle, in Beit Hanina and Silwan respectively. Additionally, the light train segment running in Shu’fat sustained damage as a result of stone-throwing by Palestinians.

• The Rafah crossing was closed in both directions by the Egyptian authorities during the week. The crossing has been continuously closed since 24 October 2014, following an attack in Sinai, except for 12 days, on which it was opened, but with restrictions.