Latest Developments since Tuesday, 24 November
- According to a media report, on 26 November a Palestinian man stabbed and injured an Israeli man and an Israeli girl inside the Kiriat Arba settlement (Hebron), and was subsequently shot and critically injured by an Israeli soldier.
West Bank
Military activities: a relatively calm week
During the reporting period, Israeli forces injured five Palestinians, down from 12 Palestinians wounded during last week and a weekly average of 16 since the beginning of 2009. All injuries occurred during the weekly anti-Barrier demonstrations, in which three Palestinians sustained wounds by live ammunitions in Ni'lin village (Ramallah) and two Palestinian women were physically assaulted and injured by Israeli forces in Al Ma'sara village (Bethlehem). This is the second consecutive week, in which injuries from live ammunition in demonstrations are recorded, after several months. No Israeli injuries were recorded this week.
Israeli forces conducted 56 search operations inside Palestinian villages, the majority of which took place in the south (31). This compares to a weekly average of around 100 operations since the beginning of 2009.
Demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem continue
On 18 November, the Jerusalem municipality demolished two Palestinian-owned buildings and three animal pens in East Jerusalem due to the lack of building permits. Among the demolished houses was a building housing a Palestinian NGO, the Women's Society Office, which provides various educational and vocational training services to women and children in the Silwan neighbourhood, affecting dozens of children and women beneficiaries. In addition, three animal pens, also in Silwan, were demolished, affecting the source of income for a Palestinian family of 14. Since the beginning of 2009, 64 Palestinian-owned structures have been demolished in East Jerusalem due to the lack of permits, of which 51 were residential, resulting in the displacement of 300 people, including 149 children.
In a press release issued this week, the Jerusalem municipality stated that it is promoting a number of zoning plans (outline and detailed), currently under consideration by the local and regional planning committees, which, if approved, will allow Palestinians to construct more than 5,000 new housing units in various areas of East Jerusalem. Since the annexation of occupied East Jerusalem to Israel, it has been very difficult for Palestinian residents of the city to obtain building permits, leaving many of them with no choice but to build "illegally". Conservative estimates indicate that as many as 60,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem may be at risk of having their homes demolished due to "illegal" construction.
Also in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian family of four persons was forced to leave the house they were renting in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, following an eviction order previously issued by the Israeli authorities. This event followed an Israeli court decision in favor of the Israeli settlers, who claim ownership over the land on which the house is built. Previous to this, in early August 2009, 53 Palestinians were displaced after being evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah under similar circumstances.
According to the Palestinian media, another eviction order was issued this week against a number of Palestinian owned buildings in the Samiramis neighborhood of East Jerusalem, following similar ownership claims by Israeli settlers. This neighborhood, located in the northern edge of East Jerusalem, has been isolated from the rest of the city by the Barrier.
