February 17, 2012

IDF troops on the c. Gaza border fire 2 artillery shells at a Palestinian Authority security forces (PASF) building e. of al-Bureij refugee camp (r.c.), causing no injuries. Unidentified Palestinians fire 3 homemade Qassam rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 5 villages nr. Ramallah, 1 nr. Qalqilya in the morning; patrols in 1 village nr. Jenin in the afternoon; patrols in 2 villages nr. Salfit, 1 nr. Ramallah late at night; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin in the morning and in Aqabat Jabir r.c. late at night. Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall, land confiscations, and settlement expansion in Bil’in, Nabi Salih, and Ni`lin nr. Ramallah and in Kafr Qaddum nr. Qalqilya; all demonstrations except those in Kafr Qaddum also call for solidarity with hunger-striking Islamic Jihad prisoner Khader Adnan, who is on the 63d day of a fast to protest Israel’s administrative detention policy. IDF soldiers fire live ammunition (Nabi Salih only), rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters; a total of 7 Palestinians are injured. (YA 2/17, JP 2/18; PCHR 2/23; OCHA 2/24)