The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed in its weekly report that Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) escalated over the past two weeks their restrictions against Palestinians.
On 3 January a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces in clashes that erupted during a demonstration in Deir Nidham village (Ramallah) the report said.
The wave of protests and clashes across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) which started on 6 December following the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel continued during the reporting period albeit at a lower rate.
Overall since the beginning of the protests 14 Palestinians were killed and 4549 were injured by Israeli forces; injuries during this period constitute about 56 per cent of all injuries during 2017.
In the Gaza Strip three Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli forces in clashes in the abovementioned protests and 280 were injured; another two civilians died of wounds sustained in similar incidents during the previous reporting period.
The incidents which took place next to the perimeter fence between Gaza and Israel involved stone throwing at Israeli forces deployed on the Israeli side who fired live ammunition rubber coated bullets and tear gas canisters towards protesters. The three fatalities all men occurred in two separate incidents on 22 and 30 December east of Jabalia Gaza city and east of Deir al-Balah. The other two fatalities also men died of wounds sustained on 8 and 17 December. Of the recorded injuries at least 27 were children over a third (103 people) were hit by live ammunition and the rest were either treated for tear-gas inhalation or directly hit by tear gas canisters.
1386 Palestinians of whom at least 226 were children were injured by Israeli forces in clashes the majority (93 per cent) in the context of the abovementioned protests.
Most other injuries were recorded during search and arrest operations the largest of which took place in Qalqiliya city and in Aqbat Jaber refugee camp (Jericho). Similar to the previous reporting period the majority of the injuries (68 per cent) were caused by tear gas inhalation requiring medical treatment followed by injuries by rubber bullets (21 per cent).
Across the West Bank Israeli forces conducted 170 search and arrest operations and detained 214 Palestinians including at least 18 children. More than a third of these operations triggered clashes with residents. Another three Palestinians including a woman and a child were arrested in three separate incidents while attempting to carry out stabbing attacks against Israeli forces (two cases) and carrying explosives on the body (one case) according to Israeli sources.
On at least 22 occasions Israeli forces opened fire towards farmers and fishermen while enforcing access restrictions to land along the fence and to fishing areas along the Gaza coast; four fishermen were detained including one injured by live ammunition. One boat was confiscated. On five occasions Israeli forces entered Gaza near Khan Younis and the middle area and carried out land-levelling and excavation operations in the vicinity of the perimeter fence.
Israeli authorities demolished or seized five structures in Area C and East Jerusalem on grounds of lack of building permits displacing five Palestinians and affecting another 33. Three of the targeted structures including one demolished by their owners following receipt of demolition orders were in East Jerusalem and the other two structures in the Area C parts of Tarqumiya (Hebron) and Al Walaja (Bethlehem) villages.
Also in Area C the Israeli authorities issued demolition and stop work orders against eight donor-funded structures in the village of Bani Na’im (Hebron) including a school a health clinic a mosque and five residential structures; three of these structures were funded by the oPt Humanitarian Fund.
On 21 December the Israeli police forced a Palestinian family to remove their belongings from a storage shop in the Old City of Jerusalem and handed it over to an Israeli settler organization which claims ownership.
At least 180 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem have eviction cases filed against them. Most of these cases were initiated by Israeli settler organizations based on ownership claims as well as claims that the residents are no longer ‘protected tenants’
At least eight attacks by Israeli settlers resulting in Palestinian injuries or property damage were reported. Four of these incidents were reportedly perpetrated by settlers from Yitzhar settlement against residents of Madama and Burin villages (Nablus) involving damage to 62 trees the physical assault of two men and the raiding of a school.
