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A construction vehicle works on a construction site in a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem known to Israelis as Har Homa in this 2010 file photo. (Photo credit: Ammar Awad/REUTERS/File)
The following is a weekly civilian report issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories. This week’s report demonstrates the rising tensions between Israeli forces and Palestinian civilians and demonstrators, as well as the continued demolition of Palestinian houses by the Israeli army
WEST BANK
Weekly protests against settlement- related activities continue; settler violence declines
This week, 30 Palestinians were injured during a weekly demonstration in Kafr Qaddum village (Qalqiliya) against the prohibition on the use of the main road connecting the village to Nablus City, and to agricultural land in the vicinity of the nearby Qedumim settlement. Since the beginning of 2012, a total of 512 Palestinians have been injured in this locality in the context of demonstrations.
Three other Palestinians sustained injuries in a weekly protest against the expansion of Hallamish settlement (2) and the construction of the Barrier on Bil’in village’s land (1), both in the Ramallah governorate. In a separate protest held in the Susiya community against the imminent displacement of around 40 percent of the community’s residents, an Israeli activist (aged 16) was injured when hit by a sound bomb fired by Israeli forces. On 12 June, the Israeli authorities issued final demolition orders against 51 structures in the Susiya community (Hebron), representing around half of the community’s structures.
Additionally, a ten-year-old boy from the Fasayil community (Jordan Valley) was injured when a suspicious object exploded while he was grazing his sheep near Peza’el settlement, bringing the total number of children injured in similar incidents in 2012 to seven.
This week, OCHA recorded two settler attacks, including a stone throwing incident resulting in a Palestinian injury (Nabi Elias, Qalqiliya) and the destruction of an agricultural fence (Al Khader, Bethlehem). This represents a decline compared to a weekly average of six incidents resulting in casualties or property damages since the beginning of the year.
At the end of the reporting period, the Israeli authorities began the evacuation of a settlement outpost in the Ramallah area (Ulpana). This follows an Israeli Supreme Court ruling, which found that the land where the outpost was established is privately owned by Palestinians and has been illegally taken over. Despite some concerns, so far this event has triggered no settler attacks.
