Sunday, July 31, 2016

There is a flurry of IDF activity in the Hebron region today, mostly related to the ongoing Israeli investigation into the killing of an Israeli settler on 7/1. IDF troops arrest 17 Palestinians during raids nr. the city, including 11 allegedly involved in the 7/1 killing. During one of the raids, Israeli soldiers open fire on a wanted Palestinian’s home to draw him out. (HA, MNA, WAFA 7/31; PCHR 8/4)

Elsewhere in the West Bank, IDF troops shoot and kill a Palestinian man at a checkpoint nr. Nablus after he allegedly attempts to charge at and stab them. No Israelis are injured. Separately, they shoot and injure a Palestinian attempting to enter Jerusalem for work. IDF troops conduct raids and house searches in and around Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Jenin, and Nablus, arresting 9 Palestinians and issuing arrest summons to 1; and patrol nr. Hebron and Qalqilya throughout the day. In East Jerusalem, a Palestinian demolishes his own home in al-Thawri to avoid paying NIS 50,000 (approx. $13,000) for an Israeli demolition crew. Along Gaza’s border, IDF troops open fire on Palestinian farmlands nr. Khan Yunis, causing no damage. In Israel, Israeli forces violently disperse Palestinians protesting the Israeli plan to demolish their village, Umm al-Hiran, in s. Israel and replace it with a Jewish Israeli town (1 Palestinian is injured and 5 are arrested). (HA, JP, MNA, WAFA 7/31; HA, JP, MNA 8/1; PCHR 8/4)