Protection of Civilians Report | 5-18 April 2022

Latest Developments (after the reporting period)

• On 22 April, an 18-year-old Palestinian man succumbed to wounds sustained on 9 April, when shot by Israeli forces during a search-and-arrest operation in Al Yamun.

• On 19 and 20 April, a Palestinian armed group in Gaza fired two rockets towards Israel; three Israeli civilians were reportedly injured while seeking shelter, and damage was reported. Subsequently, Israeli forces launched air strikes hitting military positions in Gaza; there were no Palestinian injuries, but damage was reported.

Highlights from the reporting period

• In continuing violence in Israel and the West Bank, 15 Palestinians and three Israelis were killed, and 945 Palestinians and 29 Israelis were injured; multiple search-and-arrest operations and violent clashes took place, and severe access restrictions were implemented. The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, issued a statement on 19 April expressing his concern at the violence and urging leaders to “reduce tensions, create the conditions for calm and ensure the status quo at the Holy Sites is protected.”
• Two Israelis were killed, and eleven were injured, in two Palestinian attacks; both perpetrators were subsequently killed. On 7 April, a Palestinian man from Jenin refugee camp shot and killed two Israelis and injured ten others in Tel Aviv (Israel); the next day, one of those injured died of his wounds, and Israeli forces shot and killed the assailant in an exchange of fire. On 10 April, a Palestinian woman allegedly stabbed an Israeli border policeman at the entrance of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the H2 area of Hebron city and was shot and killed by Israeli forces. According to eyewitnesses, soldiers prevented medical teams from reaching the woman for about half an hour. Following the attack, Israeli forces intensified restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshippers to the mosque. The bodies of both Palestinians are withheld by the Israeli authorities, as of the end of the reporting period. On 12 April, a Palestinian man from Hebron was shot and killed by Israeli police during a raid on a workplace in Israel suspected of employing Palestinians without Israeli-issued permits. Israeli officials said that the man had stabbed an Israeli police office; Palestinian eyewitnesses said he was asleep and had showed no resistance.
• Following the shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israeli military operations intensified across the West Bank; eleven Palestinians, including three children, were killed by Israeli forces and others were injured during multiple search-and-arrest operations and other circumstances. On 9 April, in Jenin refugee camp, from which the shooter had come, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured another ten, including a 17-year-old child, who died two days later of his wounds; an exchange of fire with Palestinians reportedly took place during the operation. On 10 April, in Husan (Bethlehem), Israeli forces shot and killed an unarmed 45-year-old Palestinian woman with vision impairment after she ignored their calls to stop approaching them, according to Israeli authorities, who opened an investigation into the incident. Also on 10 April, in Al Khadr (Bethlehem), a 21-year-old man was shot and killed after he reportedly threw a Molotov cocktail at Israeli vehicles, according to Israeli sources. In three separate search-and-arrest operations on 13 and 14 April, Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinians and injured another six, including a 17-year-old boy who died of his wounds days later. The three search-and-arrest operations took place in Silwad (Ramallah), Kafr Dan (Jenin) and Beita (Nablus), triggering clashes which erupted over the course of these operations. On 14 April, another 14-year-old boy was killed by Israeli forces at the entrance of Husan (Bethlehem) where Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces positioned at the entrance of the village, and Israeli forces fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters. On 18 April, a Palestinian woman died of wounds she sustained while in a taxi during an exchange of fire between Palestinians and Israeli forces on 9 April in Jenin.
• Another Palestinian man was killed by Israeli forces near Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus on 13 April, which has been a source of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces who have been accompanying Israeli settlers to the site over the years. On 9 April, Palestinians vandalized the compound, setting fire to part of it. The Palestinian Authority announced its intention to repair the structure; however, on 13 April, Israeli settlers and Israeli forces accessed the compound to carry out the repairs. While doing so, Israeli forces fired sound bombs and Palestinians threw stones at them. Subsequently, the forces shot live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and teargas canisters, injuring 26 Palestinians. The man who was killed was in his car taking his nephews to a nearby school when hit by a bullet. On 10 April, Palestinian forces shot and injured two settlers who tried to access Joseph’s Tomb without military accompaniment, and another Israeli settler ran over and injured a Palestinian man while fleeing the area in his vehicle.
• Since the beginning of Ramadan, on 2 April, Israeli forces have intensified their presence in and around the Old City of Jerusalem. On 15 and 17 April, Israeli forces raided the Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount and used force to evacuate Palestinians. According to the Israeli Police Commissioner, this took place after Palestinians attacked a police station and threatened the safety of Jewish worshipers at the Western Wall. Israeli forces shot stun grenades, sponge-tipped bullets and beat Palestinians with batons, including children, women, journalists and others who were demonstrably not involved in any stone-throwing. A total of 180 Palestinians, including 27 children and four women, were injured. According to Israeli media, three members of Israeli forces were injured by stones. During the 15 April operation, Israeli forces arrested 470 Palestinians, including 60 children, the majority of whom were released later that day.
• In addition to the 180 injured in East jerusalem above, another 765 Palestinians, including 35 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank, representing a 73 per cent increase from the previous reporting period. Most of the injuries (485) were recorded in different demonstrations. These included some 201 injuries reported in eight anti-settlement protests near Beita, Beit Dajan, Burqa and Qaryut (all in Nablus), and Kafr Qaddum (Qalqiliya). Another 284 injuries resulted from demonstrations against the high number of fatalities, with some participants throwing stones and Israeli forces firing teargas canisters, rubber bullets and live ammunition. Another 212 injuries were recorded in 16 search-and-arrest operations across the West Bank, including in Beita (Nablus), when 147 people were injured in a single operation. In total, Israeli forces carried out 109 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 108 Palestinians. On 12 and 13 April, Israeli forces raided the Palestine Technical University in Tulkarm, where they opened fire at students, injuring 68 of them as well as one security guard, who Israeli officials said was suspected of being involved in an attack against Israelis. Of all the Palestinian injuries, 85 were hit by live ammunition, 90 were by rubber bullets and most of the remainder were treated for inhaling teargas.
• A total of around 60,000 Palestinians holding West Bank IDs entered East Jerusalem on the first and second Fridays of Ramadan (8 and 15 April) through the four designated checkpoints along the Barrier, according to official Israeli figures. The Israeli authorities allowed men above 50 years of age, women of all ages and children below 12 years of age to enter East Jerusalem without permits. This year, the Israeli authorities did not grant Ramadan or Easter permits for residents of Gaza.
• The Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced people to demolish five Palestinian-owned structures in Area C of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. As a result, eight people including four children were displaced and the livelihoods of about four others were affected. The decline in demolitions and confiscations witnessed in recent weeks is consistent with the practice in most previous years during the month of Ramadan.
• Israeli settlers injured two Palestinians, and people known or believed to be settlers damaged Palestinian property in twelve instances. On 9 April, settlers physically assaulted a Palestinian man grazing livestock near Kafr al Labad (Tulkarm) and another man in the H2 area of Hebron city. Three additional attacks occurred in Qaryut (Nablus), Ras at Tin community (Ramallah), and Wadi Fukin (Bethlehem), including breaking into livelihood structures, stealing agricultural equipment and water tanks and causing damage to a water facility and pipelines. In two incidents, settlers attacked Palestinian herders and their cows in Hammat al Maleh community in the northern Jordan Valley (Tubas) and Palestinian farmers in Kafr ad Dik (Salfit), causing damage to crops. In another five incidents, stones were thrown at Palestinian vehicles near Jerusalem, Hebron and Nablus, causing damage to at least eight vehicles.
• People known or believed to be Palestinians injured 15 Israeli settlers and damaged seven Israeli vehicles travelling on West Bank roads by stone-throwing near Nablus, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. Israeli-plated vehicles and buses were damaged by stones or Molotov cocktails thrown at them in eight incidents.
• On 18 April, for the first time in over three months, Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket towards southern Israel. The rocket was intercepted by the Israeli military. Subsequently, Israeli forces launched air strikes hitting a military training site in the southern Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported in either incident.
• Also in the Gaza Strip, on at least 38 occasions, Israeli forces opened warning fire near Israel’s perimeter fence or off the coast, presumably to enforce access restrictions. In two incidents, Israeli forces arrested seven fishermen at sea, injured one of them and confiscated three fishing boats