Protection of Civilians Report | 25 October – 7 November 2022

Latest Development (outside the reporting period)

• According to initial information from human rights organizations, on 9 November, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was killed, and 60 Palestinians were injured during confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli army that were triggered by a visit by Israeli settlers and parliament members to Joseph’s tomb (Nablus). The killed child was reportedly shot with live ammunition before the explosive device he was allegedly planting detonated. 

• According to initial information from local community sources, on 9 November, Israeli forces shot and injured with live ammunition a Palestinian man, who later died of his wounds, while he was trying to reach his workplace in Israel through a breach in the Barrier near Anin village (Jenin).

(More details will be provided on the above-mentioned incidents in the next report)

Highlights from the reporting period

• During the reporting period, 15 Palestinians and one Israeli settler were killed and 201 Palestinians and 12 Israelis, including seven members of Israeli forces, were injured in the West Bank. Injured Palestinians include 184 injured by Israeli forces and 17 by Israeli settlers. Measured as a monthly average, 2022 is the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations started systematically counting fatalities in 2005. 
• Six Palestinians were killed and 28 were injured by Israeli forces during two Israeli undercover military operations in the Old City of Nablus and Jenin Refugee camp. On 25 October, Israeli forces besieged and exchanged fire with Palestinians affiliated with the Lions’ Den group in the Old City of Nablus, during which the Israeli army also used shoulder-fired explosive projectiles. As a result, four Palestinians including two bystanders were killed and 27 others were injured by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces. In addition, according to available reports, a Palestinian was killed and two others were injured by shrapnel from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that exploded inside a car at the site of confrontations . On 3 November, undercover Israeli forces shot in the back and killed a Palestinian man after chasing him in Jenin Refugee Camp. Subsequent stone throwing and an exchange of fire between Palestinians and Israeli forces took place, during which a 14-year-old boy was killed and another Palestinian was injured, both with live ammunition.
• One Israeli settler and one Palestinian were killed, and five Israeli settlers and one Palestinian were injured, in two shooting and stabbing attacks and one stone-throwing incident against Israeli settlers in Hebron, Qalqilya, and Jerusalem. On 25 October, a Palestinian man stabbed and injured an Israeli settler man in Al Funduq village (Qalqilya), who died of his wounds on 8 November (this fatality will be counted in the next reporting period). Following the stabbing attack, Israeli forces conducted search and arrest operations in the area and arrested a Palestinian suspect. On 29 October, a Palestinian man shot and killed an Israeli settler man and injured three others firing toward Israeli settler vehicles in Wadi al Ghrouz area of Hebron city near Kiryat Arba’ settlement. An exchange of fire ensued, during which the man was rammed by a vehicle of an Israeli settlement guard and then he was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier. During the same incident, a Palestinian paramedic was also injured with live ammunition fired by Israeli forces when a medical team was dispatched to the area following the incident. Subsequently, Israeli forces closed the entrances to Hebron city (see below). On 31 October, one Israeli settler was injured by Palestinian stone throwing at an Israeli bus travelling on Road 437 near Hizma village (Jerusalem). In total, at least three Israeli settler vehicles were damaged by Palestinian stone throwing on West Bank roads by people known or believed to be Palestinians and six were set on fire in Silwan area of East Jerusalem. On 3 November, a 13-year-old Israeli settler girl reportedly suffered from head injury in Kiryat Arba settlement as a result of a stray bullet; the Israeli army stated that the circumstances of the incident are under investigation (not counted in the total). 
• Three Palestinian attacks or alleged attacks against Israeli forces resulted in the killing of three Palestinian perpetrators/alleged perpetrators and the injury of seven members of Israeli forces in Jericho, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. On 30 October, a Palestinian man rammed his vehicle into and injured five Israeli soldiers at two different junctions near Jericho, before being shot and killed by Israeli forces. On 2 November, a Palestinian man reportedly hit with his vehicle and injured an Israeli soldier at Beit 'Ur al Fauqa checkpoint in Ramallah Governorate. He then existed the vehicle and reportedly brandished an axe before being shot and killed by an Israeli soldier. On 3 November, a Palestinian man stabbed and injured one Israeli policeman at Bab al Majles gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, before being shot and killed by Israeli police officers; according to Israeli media sources, two other Israeli policemen were wounded by ‘friendly-fire’ in the same incident. The bodies of the three Palestinian perpetrators of the above attacks have been withheld by the Israeli authorities. Since the beginning of 2022, seventeen (17) Palestinians have been shot and killed by Israeli forces during Palestinian attacks or attempted/alleged attacks in the West Bank and Israel.
• Five Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in four other incidents across the West Bank. On 25 October, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces at the entrance of An Nabi Salih village (Ramallah); Israeli soldiers fired live bullets and tear gas cannisters toward Palestinians, who were demonstrating against the Israeli military operation in the Old City of Nablus and hurling stones at Israeli soldiers positioned at the military tower at the entrance to the village. On 28 October, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian men, who were later identified as members of the Palestinian Civil Defense, and injured one Palestinian in Huwwara town (Nablus). According to Israeli media sources, Israeli forces opened fire toward vehicles suspected of shooting at a military post near Huwwara checkpoint; no casualties were reported among Israeli soldiers and the exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear. On 3 November, the Israeli army raided Beit Duqqu village (Jerusalem), the hometown of the Palestinian man who carried out a ramming attack at Beit 'Ur al Fauqa checkpoint (see details above), triggering confrontations between Palestinian stone throwers and Israeli forces who reportedly fired live ammunition and tear gas cannisters; as a result, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by live ammunition fired by the Israeli army. According to medical sources, Israeli forces prevented medical staff from reaching the injured man for at least half an hour and only allowed the ambulance to transport him after confirming his death. On 5 November, the Israeli army shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured another following alleged stone throwing toward Israeli settler vehicles travelling on Road 60 near Sinjil village (Ramallah). No casualties among Israeli settlers were reported and, according to Palestinian sources, the full circumstances of the incident remain unclear. This brings the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2022 to 125, including 28 children.
• In total, 184 Palestinians, including at least 16 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank, of whom 60 (33%) were shot with live ammunition. In addition to 28 Palestinians injured during two military operations in the Old City of Nablus and Jenin Refugee Camp (see above), 95 Palestinians were wounded in demonstrations held across the West Bank mainly in protest against these military operations. Another 13 Palestinians and one Israeli activist were injured near Beit Dajan (Nablus) and Kafr Qaddum (Qalqilya) in demonstrations against access restrictions and settlement expansion. Moreover, Israeli forces injured 19 Palestinians during Israeli settler attacks in Nablus and Ramallah governorates. One Palestinian was injured during a Palestinian attack against settlers in Hebron (see above). Fifteen other Palestinians were injured in ad-hoc clashes, six during search-and-arrest operations and other ad-hoc arrests, two during a demolition incident, and one when Israeli forces fired live ammunition toward a Palestinian trying to cross through breaches in the Barrier in Hebron while trying to reach his workplace in Israel. Finally, two Palestinians were injured at checkpoints in the West Bank, one in an attack/alleged attack against Israeli forces, and one by Israeli forces in response to alleged stone throwing. 
• Overall, Israeli forces conducted 144 search-and-arrest operations and detained 268 Palestinians, including 31 children, across the West Bank. The Jerusalem governorate accounted for the highest number of operations (56 or 39%) and the highest number of arrests (54 or 20%). Between January and October 2022, the monthly average number of Palestinians detained/arrested by the Israeli forces in the West Bank is the highest since 2017 (572).
• Israeli forces restricted the movement of Palestinians in several locations across the West Bank. Following the killing of an Israeli settler on 29 October (see above), the Israeli army closed off all access points to and from Hebron City for one day and has since blocked four roads with earth mounds and closed two road gates that had been usually open. This has impeded the movement of around 3,000 people in Al Bowereh, Beit ‘Einun and Wadi al Ghrous areas in Area C of Hebron City, forcing residents to use alternative dirt roads and long detours to access clinics, schools, and markets. Similar movement restrictions have also intensified around Nablus City following the alleged shooting attack at Huwwara checkpoint on 28 October. 
• The Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced people to demolish 54 structures, in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; seven of the structures had been provided as donor-funded humanitarian aid. As a result, 35 people, including 16 children, were displaced, and close to 200 people were otherwise affected. The majority of targeted structures (41) were located in Area C, including eleven structures seized without warning, thereby preventing their owners from filing objections in advance. In addition, 13 structures were demolished in East Jerusalem, including six homes destroyed by their owners to avoid the payment of fines to the Israeli authorities.
• The Olive Harvest season was disrupted by at least 23 setter violence incidents that resulted in the injury of 10 Palestinians by Israeli settlers and eight by Israeli forces, damage to more than 350 olive trees, and large amounts of stolen crops. On 25 October, a group of Israeli settlers threw stones toward Palestinians and set fire to two vehicles during an olive harvest activity in Area C of Turmus’ayya village (Ramallah). Israeli forces subsequently intervened and injured eight Palestinians, using rubber bullets, tear gas cannisters, and as result of physical assault. In two incidents in Hebron governorate on 29 October and 3 November, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and threw stones at Palestinian olive pickers, including an elderly man and woman, injuring seven Palestinians on the outskirts of Ash Shuyukh village and in H2 area of Hebron City. On 05 November, three Palestinians including a 13-year-old child were physically assaulted and stoned by a group of about 40 Israeli settlers while they were harvesting their olive trees north of Kafr ad Dik village in Salfit governorate; during the same incident, Israeli setters stole about 40 kg of harvested crops and a harvesting machine. Incidents resulting in property damage involved the stealing of harvesting tools and produce, uprooting of trees, spraying olive trees with chemicals, and damage to agricultural equipment, among others. In addition, in 25 settler violence incidents unrelated to the Olive Harvest, Israeli settlers injured seven Palestinians, and people known or believed to be Israeli settlers damaged Palestinian property. These include one incident in Burin (Nablus) where Israeli forces intervened and injured nine additional Palestinians. Reported property damage affected inter alia more than 50 vehicles, 1,400 meters of irrigation pipes, water tanks, solar panels, and residential houses.
• In the Gaza Strip, on 1 November, three Palestinian children were injured by the detonation of unexploded ordnance (UXOs), after tampering with a munition they found northwest Rafah.
• On 3 November, Palestinian armed groups launched four rockets from Gaza towards southern Israel, for the first time since the August 2022 escalation of hostilities: three rockets dropped short and the fourth one was intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome system. Subsequently, Israeli forces carried out several airstrikes, hitting positions reportedly belonging to armed groups in Gaza; structural damage but no casualties have been reported.
• In the Gaza Strip, on at least 35 occasions, Israeli forces opened warning fire near Israel’s perimeter fence or off the coast, presumably to enforce access restrictions in areas within Gaza: this resulted in the injury of one fisherman, the arrest of nine Palestinians, damage to four fishing boats, and the confiscation of three others. In another incident, three Palestinians from Gaza were arrested by Israeli forces at Erez crossing.