UN OCHA Protection of Civilians Weekly Report: June 9-15, 2015

by Middle East and Europe | published on Jun 22, 2015

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs produces a weekly Protection of Civilians report. The current report covers the period between June 9-15, 2015. To view the complete version of the report, including a series of charts with the main indicators, click here.

Highlights:

Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian men in separate incidents in the West Bank. The victims are a 23-year-old man shot during a search and arrest operation in Jenin refugee camp, and a 22-year-old man shot and later hit by a military jeep during clashes in Kafr Malik village (Ramallah). According to Israeli media, both men were shot while they were about to throw firebombs. Regarding the latter case, Palestinian sources indicated that the Israeli forces denied access of medical staff to the victim for at least one hour.
15 Palestinians, including three children, were injured by Israeli forces across the oPt. All but one of the injuries occurred in the West Bank in the context of clashes, primarily in the weekly demonstration against the closure of one of the main entrances to Kafr Qaddum village (Qalqiliya) and two search and arrest operations in the Jenin and Ramallah governorates. In the Gaza Strip, an 18-year-old mentally disabled youth was shot and injured while trying to scale over the fence; on at least 12 other occasions, Israeli forces opened fire towards civilians present in the Access Restricted Area (ARA) on land and sea, resulting in no injuries.
Israeli forces arrested 98 Palestinians, including 81 in search and arrest operations across the West Bank and one near the fence surrounding Gaza, during attempts to cross into Israel. One land-leveling incident, approximately 100 meters into the Gaza Strip, was reported northeast of Khan Yunis.
251 Palestinians, half of them children, were displaced from their homes for six hours during an Israeli military training exercise. The affected families live in four herding communities in the northern Jordan Valley. Temporary displacement in these circumstances has become systematic in recent years, with 103 such incidents recorded since the beginning of 2012.
The Israeli authorities demolished sixteen (16) Palestinian-owned structures in Area C thirteen (13) and East Jerusalem three (3) for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, affecting a total of 95 residents half of them children.
Two Israeli settler attacks resulting in damage to Palestinian property were recorded, including the vandalizing of eight trees in Susiya village (Hebron), reportedly by settlers from the adjacent Susya settlement, and the setting of fire to 20-dunums of land planted with wheat in Kafr al Labad village (Tulkarm), near Enav settlement. Most residents of Susiya village are at imminent risk of forced displacement due to outstanding Israeli demolition orders targeting about 170 structures located in the Area C parts of the community.
Israeli media reported three Palestinian attacks against Israelis in East Jerusalem, including the injury of an Israeli woman as a result of stone-throwing and damage to a settler’s residence and a vehicle.
The Israeli authorities announced a series of measures aimed at facilitating Palestinian access to East Jerusalem during the month of Ramadan. Palestinian men above 40, women of all ages and children below 12 will be allowed to enter Jerusalem without permits on Fridays for prayers. For the first time since early nineties, Palestinian-plated busses will be allowed to travel directly to Jerusalem on Fridays through the checkpoints around Jerusalem. In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli authorities will issue a few hundreds of permits to Palestinian men above 60 and women above 50 to access Jerusalem on Fridays.
The Rafah crossing was opened between 13 and 15 June in both directions, allowing 1,846 Palestinians, mainly patients and students, to leave and 740 people to enter Gaza. This brings to 18 the number of days in which the crossing has been partially opened since its closure on 24 October 2014, following an attack in Sinai.