In the West Bank, Israeli forces began demolishing 13 apartment buildings housing 70 apartments in Wadi Hummus, located in Areas A and B on both sides of the separation wall. The highly publicized demolitions had 700 Israeli police officers and 200 Israeli soldiers involved and drew condemnation from many different international organizations and countries. During the demolitions, several Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces while protesting the demolitions. Israeli forces also detained the Palestinian owner of 1 of the buildings for several hours; upon his release he was banned from the neighborhood until 7/25. Israeli forces also arrested 16 Palestinians in and around Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, and Qalqilya. In Israel, a Palestinian man from the West Bank was shot by Israeli police after allegedly having pulled out a gun when stopped by the police officers. (AJ, AMNESTY, AP, BBC, EU, HA, HA, NYT, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 7/22; HA, WAFA 7/23)
At a press conference, PLO secretary general Saeb Erakat said that the Palestinian leadership had decided to cancel all agreements with Israel in light of the demolitions in Wadi Hummus. Erakat further said that a request for a meeting at the United Nations Security Council about the demolitions had been made. (WAFA 7/22)
The UNRWA announced that it had received a $2.18 million contribution from Austria for UNRWA health programs. (MEMO, WAFA 7/22