JERUSALEM, So far, 2022 is the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank, on a monthly average since the United Nations started counting fatalities systematically in 2005, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory.
It said in its biweekly Protection of Civilians Report covering the period between 11 and 24 October that daily violent incidents involving Palestinians, Israeli settlers and Israeli forces across the West Bank continued; 10 Palestinians, including two children, and one Israeli soldier were killed; and 650 Palestinians and nine Israelis were injured during the reporting period.
However, since the reporting period, 10 other Palestinians were killed by Israeli army gunfire, six were shot dead on October 25, including five in Nablus and one near Ramallah, two civil defense members were killed near Hawwara checkpoint, south of Nablus, on October 28, one killed in Hebron after shooting and killing an Israeli settler on October 29, and one killed near Jericho on October 30 after a car-ramming attack that injured five Israelis.
In total, since the OCHA report, 623 Palestinians, including at least 69 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank during the reporting period; 46 of them were shot with live ammunition.
The Israeli forces conducted 157 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 201 Palestinians, including 18 children, across the West Bank during the reporting period, said the UN agency. The Jerusalem governorate accounted for the highest number of operations (72) and the highest number of arrests (113). So far in 2022, the monthly average number of Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces in the West Bank is the highest since 2017.
Israeli forces restricted the movement of Palestinians in several locations across the West Bank, said OCHA. Since the killing of an Israeli soldier on 11 October and through the end of the reporting period, Israeli forces closed off all access points to or from the city of Nablus (population of about 170,000) except for the Huwwara checkpoint, where crossing was allowed exceptionally, including in humanitarian cases, with significant delays. The closure hindered the access to and functioning of essential services and livelihoods: pupils and teachers faced delays in reaching schools, teaching hours were reduced, and, in some areas, classes were canceled; delays reaching health facilities were also reported.
As for demolitions, the Israeli occupation authorities demolished or forced people to demolish six Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. As a result, three people, including one child, were displaced, and the livelihoods of 47 others were affected.
The olive harvest season, which started in the West Bank on 13 October, was disrupted by at least 22 incidents that resulted in injuries or property damage: one Palestinian farmer was injured by Israeli settlers, and over 800 olive trees were burnt, or otherwise damaged, and large amounts of produce were stolen by settlers.
Outside the olive harvest season, Israeli settlers injured 27 Palestinians and damaged Palestinian property in 35 instances.
Source: Palestine News & Info Agency