In the West Bank, Israeli settlers set fire to a field planted with wheat crops near al-Mughayyir, causing extensive damage. Israel deployed more forces to the West Bank, increasing the number of...
Along Gaza’s border, IDF troops open fire on Palestinian homes near al-Maghazi; 1 elderly Palestinian is shot in the back and killed. Some reports say that the man was killed by fragments of an...
In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late night arrest raids in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, and in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas (firing live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets on...
Read more
In the West Bank, Israeli settlers set fire to a field planted with wheat crops near al-Mughayyir, causing extensive damage. Israel deployed more forces to the West Bank, increasing the number of military forces by 50%. Israeli forces seized 1 excavator east of Yatta. 1 Palestinian was arrested at the Qalandia checkpoint. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinian protesters by the Damascus Gate plaza, injuring 3. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protesters at the Hebrew University near Issawiyya, injuring 2 and arresting 3; 3 Israeli police officers were reportedly lightly injured. Earlier, Israeli settlers attacked 1 Palestinian in the area, leading to several other Palestinians coming to his defense. Elsewhere, Israeli forces closed off Shaykh Jarrah to prevent Palestinians from entering the neighborhood and violently dispersed Palestinians in the area, leading to 19 injuries, including 5 that required treatment at a hospital. 6 Palestinians were arrested during raids in and around the Haram al-Sharif compound, Bayt Hanina, Shu‘fat, and Sur Bahir. In Gaza, Israel said incendiary balloons from Gaza started several fires in Israel. 2 rockets were also reportedly fired from Gaza toward Israel; no damage was reported. Israeli forces subsequently attacked Dayr al-Balah, causing damage. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protests against Israeli aggression in East Jerusalem near the Gaza fence east of Khan Yunis, injuring 1 protester with live ammunition and 2 with tear gas. Elsewhere, Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinian protesters east of al-Bureij refugee camp; no injuries were reported. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen within 3 nautical miles west of Bayt Lahiya; no injuries were reported. In Israel, Palestinian citizens of Israel protested Israel’s aggression against Palestinians in East Jerusalem in Haifa and Nazareth. (HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, MEMO, WAFA, WAFA 5/9; AP, HA, HA 5/10; PCHR 5/11)
The Israeli high court of justice postponed the eviction hearing for the Palestinian families in Shaykh Jarrah under the most immediate threat of eviction. The hearing, which has already been postponed a number of times, was scheduled for 5/10. The postponement was made after a request by the Israeli attorney general Avichai Mendelblit, whom the attorneys representing the Palestinian families have requested be part of the proceedings. (GDN, HA, NYT 5/9; HA, REU 5/10)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “[w]e firmly reject pressure not to build in Jerusalem. And sadly, these pressures have been increasing recently. I say to our closest friends: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Just as every nation builds its capital and builds in its capital, we also reserve the right to build Jerusalem and build in Jerusalem. This is what we have done, and this is what we will continue to do.” His comments came after days of international condemnation of Israeli efforts to evict Palestinians in East Jerusalem, replacing them with Israeli settlers. (AJ, BBC, HA 5/9)
Jordan summoned the Israeli envoy to the country to express its condemnation over Israeli behavior in East Jerusalem in recent days. Jordan’s king Abdullah II also called PA president Mahmoud Abbas to express his support. Jordan called the Israeli violence against Palestinians in East Jerusalem “barbaric.” Protests outside the Israeli embassy in Amman called for Jordan to end its peace treaty with Israel. President Abbas also discussed the situation with Tunisian president Kais Saied. (HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA 5/9)
U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan spoke to Israeli national security advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat, expressing concern over the recent violence in East Jerusalem and the Israeli eviction threat over the Palestinian families in Shaykh Jarrah. According to Axios, Security Advisor Ben-Shabbat told U.S. security advisor Sullivan that the U.S. and the international community should stay out of Israel’s actions in East Jerusalem. The spokesperson for UN secretary-general António Guterres urged Israel to “exercise maximum restraint and respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly” and to stop demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem. Pope Francis also called on the parties to stop the violence. Pakistan and Switzerland were also among the countries to criticize Israel’s aggression. (AX, HA, MEMO, WAFA, WAFA 5/9; AX, HA, MEE, REU, WAFA 5/10)
Tunisia led a group of 9 nations requesting an emergency meeting at the UN security council for the violence in Jerusalem. (WAFA 5/9)
Along Gaza’s border, IDF troops open fire on Palestinian homes near al-Maghazi; 1 elderly Palestinian is shot in the back and killed. Some reports say that the man was killed by fragments of an Israeli tank shell instead. An IDF spokesperson says he is unaware of any soldiers or tanks opening fire in the area around the time of the incident. Separately, Israeli forces conduct a limited incursion to level land near Rafah. In the West Bank, IDF troops violently disperse Palestinians gathering at the Beit El checkpoint near Ramallah to protest Israel’s new Nation-State Law for a 2d day in a row; 2 Palestinians are injured. They also shoot and injure 1 Palestinian during clashes sparked by a raid near Jericho; arrest 7 Palestinians and issue 1 arrest summons during raids near Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarm, and Jenin; and patrol near Nablus and Hebron. Israeli forces dismantle a makeshift Palestinian residential structure outside Hebron. Israeli settlers raze more than 200 dunams (approximately 49.4 acres) of Palestinian-owned land near Nablus. Settlers also flood with wastewater parts of Khan al-Ahmar, the Jerusalem-area Bedouin village slated for imminent evacuation and demolition. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 10 Palestinians during raids in Issawiyya and Shu‘fat refugee camp. (HA, MNA, MNA, MNA, WAFA 10/2; MNA, TOI 10/3; PCHR 10/4)
The Israeli authorities deny a U.S. citizen entry into Israel at Ben Gurion Airport late at night, citing alleged “boycott activity.” The woman, Lara Alqasem, arrived in Israel with a student visa to work towards a master’s degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. (HA, JP, YA 10/6)
In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late night arrest raids in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, and in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas (firing live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 6); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (injuring 2 Palestinians, 1 international). Israel imposes new restrictions requiring Palestinian medical personnel fr. the West Bank who work in Jerusalem to enter Jerusalem only through the Qalandia checkpoint, the most crowded checkpoint, causing them significant delays. Heavy rains cause the collapse of 10 smuggling tunnels on the Rafah border, trapping and injuring at least 7 Palestinians. Egypt allows the entry of a delegation of Islamic Jihad officials fr. Gaza who are heading to Damascus for a wk. of internal discussions on Egypt’s proposed national unity plan ahead of national unity talks in Cairo on 11/9. Inside Israel, Hebrew University student Ali Baher, an Israeli Palestinian, is detained by campus security, questioned for 3 hrs., charged with “inappropriate conduct” for refusing on political grounds to shake hands with Pres. Shimon Peres, who randomly approached Baher while he was touring the campus library meeting with students; the university evicts Baher from campus housing and orders a disciplinary hearing (date not set) to decide whether he should be suspended. (MNA 11/2; OCHA 11/5; PCHR, Physicians for Human Rights–Israel press release 11/6)
Concerned by the escalating settler violence directed at Israeli security forces, the Israeli cabinet at its weekly meeting votes to suspend all direct and indirect government funding to unauthorized settlement outposts (especially citing infrastructure such as roads, garbage collection, and school buses) in the 1st de facto admission that public funds are used to advance illegal settlement. Olmert also proposes increasing arrests and administrative detention of Jewish settlers who break the law. The Jerusalem District Juvenile Court remands and indicts 3 Jewish settler girls (ages 12, 15, 17) for reckless endangerment, aggravated assault of security forces, and obstruction of a police officer for attacks against Israeli border police in Givat Harsina on 10/30. IDF district cmdr. Noam Tivon cancels plans to give a speech at a yeshiva in Efrat settlement nr. Bethlehem after Jewish settlers fr. Hebron threaten to hold a massive demonstration to block his visit, calling him an “expulsion criminal” for previously ordering the removal settlers fr. the unauthorized Federman Farm outpost. (YA 11/2; NYT, WP 11/3; WT 11/4; MM 11/4, 11/7)
