Publications
The number of active COVID-19 cases in the oPt rose by 14 per cent and 99 more people died.1,200 more cases of community transmission and another 11 fatalities reported in Gaza. In Israel, the authorities have imposed a three-week general lockdown, which also includes annexed East Jerusalem. The Inter-Agency Response Plan for the oPt is 46 per cent funded.
A strict lockdown was imposed by the local authorities in Gaza, following the detection of the first COVID-19 cases outside quarantine centres on 24 August. Intermittent hostilities in Gaza and southern Israel resulted in injuries and significant property damage on both sides. In response to the escalation, the Israeli authorities reduced the permissible fishing zone and halted the entry of most goods to Gaza, including fuel, leading to the shutdown of the Gaza Power Plant (GPP) and triggering power cuts for up to 20 hours a day. The Rafah passenger crossing with Egypt was reopened in both directions for three days, alongside a sharp increase in the entry of goods from Egypt throughout the month.
Sharp increase in demolition- related displacements in August. 21 stuctures demolished or sized within or next to the E1 settlement expansion area. Over half of demolitions in East Jerusalem in 2020 carried out by the structures’ owners. Seven donor-funded aid structures demolished/seized, while another nine placed at risk.
Statement by Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick: The period from March to August 2020 saw the demolition or confiscation of 389 Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank, on average, 65 per month, the highest average destruction rate in four years.
An Israeli civilian was killed and an Israeli police officer and a soldier were injured by Palestinians in two separate incidents. On 26 August, a Palestinian stabbed to death an Israeli man in the city of Petah Tikva, in Israel. The suspected assailant, a 46-year-old man from the Nablus area, reportedly holding a work permit, was subsequently arrested. In the West Bank, a Palestinian drove his car into Israeli forces at the Za’atra checkpoint, in the Nablus governorate, causing light injuries to a soldier and a police officer; the driver was shot and injured, reportedly after he exited the car and ran towards the forces while brandishing a knife, and subsequently arrested. On 6 September, a Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli soldier near the Ariel settlement (Salfit) and was arrested.
The number of active COVID-19 cases rose by over 33 per cent and exceeds 11,000; 57 more people died. 1,100 more cases of community transmission, and another six fatalities, reported in Gaza. The lockdown in Gaza is slightly eased and a night-time curfew is expected in many East Jerusalem neighbourhoods. The Inter-Agency Response Plan for the oPt is 45 per cent funded.
Rasha Abu Tuaima is a 39-year-old farmer from Ash Shouka area of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, where she lives with her husband and 11 children in a tin-roofed, two-bedroom house. Their youngest daughter has Down syndrome.
The deterioration witnessed in recent weeks in the Gaza Strip is of grave concern. In the context of an escalation of hostilities with Palestinian armed groups launching projectiles into Israel, Israel has limited the transfer of certain goods into the blockaded coastal enclave, reduced the permissible fishing area and prevented fuel deliveries, including the UN-facilitated fuel for Gaza’s sole Power Plant. As a result, the Gaza Power Plant ceased operations on 18 August, sharply reducing electricity provision to nearly 2 million Palestinians.
The overall number of COVID-19 cases rose by forty per cent and 45 more people died. First cases of community transmission reported in Gaza, leading to two fatalities. Complete lockdown in Gaza, amidst intensified hostilities and a significant decline in power supply.
Two Palestinians, including a child, were shot and killed, and three others were injured, by Israeli forces in two separate incidents in the West Bank.
