• Two Palestinians Killed
• 38 Buildings Demolished

Killings

Amir Manar Al-Hajjar

On 14 May 2018, at approximately 2 pm, the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) shot and injured Amir Al-Hajjar, a 33-year-old Palestinian in his left abdomen whilst participating in the Great Return March at Al-Awda Camp in Jabalya, in the north of the Gaza Strip. He was then transferred to the Indonesian Hospital, where he was determined to be in critical condition and in need of surgery. After the surgery, Amir was admitted to the intensive care unit. Due to the severity of his injury, and the lack of necessary care available in the Gaza Strip, Amir spent 9 days in the Indonesian Hospital before being transferred to the Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. There, he underwent various surgeries to treat the laceration in the abdominal viscera caused by the bullet. After receiving a month of treatment in the Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah, Amir returned to Gaza with a documentation from the doctors in the Istishari Arab Hospital, highlighting the importance of his return to the same hospital within three months to follow up on his treatment. When he was due to travel to Ramallah again, the Israeli authorities rejected his permit request. As a result of the Israeli permit regime, Amir’s health deteriorated as time went by, which led to him being transferred to Egypt for treatment on 5 February 2019. Amir then was repeatedly transferred between Egyptian and Palestinian hospitals. On 19 January 2020, Amir was pronounced dead due to the complications related to his abdominal injury.          

Alaa Hani Al-Abbasi (14 years old): At around 12:15 p.m. on Friday, January 31, 2020, Palestinian medical sources at Nasser Governmental Hospital announced that the child, Alaa Abbasi, succumbed to his injuries. He had been shot by IOF east of the town of Khuza’ah, east of Khan Yunis, on Friday, 11 October 2019, while watching the events of Great Return March with his father. He was about 250 meters away from the border fence when he was shot without posing any danger to the soldiers. Since then, he had been in critical condition due to his injury until he was announced dead.

Demolitions

The Israeli occupying authorities demolished a total of 38 private and public facilities in January 2020.

House demolitions: the Israeli authorities demolished 23 houses  in January 2020, 18 of which were already inhabited by Palestinian families, whereas the remaining 5 were under construction. One of the 18 houses was inhabited by more than one family. Despite the fact that 7 out of the total number of house owners had officially written to or communicated with the relevant Israeli entities to prevent the demolition process, the demolitions were carried out. Further, the possessions of 8 houses have been damaged as the Israeli authorities did not provide the residents with adequate time to evacuate their belongings prior to the demolition.

15 of the demolished houses were located in Area C, as classified under the terms of the  Oslo Accords, whereas 8 houses were located within the jurisdiction of the Israeli  Jerusalem municipality. Notably, this is not the first house demolition for some of the families, as 8 families have had their houses demolished at least once prior to this latest demolition. Further, the demolitions of the inhabited houses resulted in the displacement of 77 Palestinians, including 21 refugees, and 40 children, of which, 23 are students.

Demolitions of private properties: the Israeli authorities demolished 14 privately-owned structures, including 12 in Area C, which is severely targeted by the Israeli authorities, and two within the jurisdiction of the Israeli Jerusalem municipality. The demolished privately-owned facilities were as follows: five farms/animal pens, two agricultural greenhouses, two water wells, one concrete wall, and four other businesses. Further, all of the demolished facilities were in use, and thereby, contained some possessions. The possessions of 6 facilities have been damaged as the Israeli authorities did not provide the owners with sufficient time to evacuate the possessions prior to the demolition. Notably, 7 of the 14 demolished facilities serve as the main source of livelihood for the owners and their families. Due to the demolition of their sources of livelihood, three families were forced to change their domicile.  

Demolitions of public properties: the Israeli authorities demolished a governmental school located in the village of Birin , east of Hebron. The demolished 640-square-meter school is located in Area C, and is approximately 300 meters close to Beni Heifer settlement. The construction of the school cost roughly NIS 200,000 (about USD 57,142). 

Other violations

Al-Haq documented 108 Israeli violations in January 2020, 22 of which were carried out by Israeli settlers. Many of the documented violations are recurring violations, such as raids, arrests, injuries, ill-treatment of the protected Palestinian population and confiscations of Palestinian property. Notably, however, the Israeli authorities have also flooded approximately 1,000 dunums of agricultural land in the occupied Gaza Strip, as they opened dams collecting water close to the fence. The Israeli systematic and recurrent destruction of Palestinian agricultural land close to the fence is further highlighted through the Israeli airplanes spraying herbicides on Palestinian agricultural lands along the fence. Similarly, Israeli settlers are also targeting Palestinian agricultural land in occupied West Bank. Specifically, Israeli settlers released sewage water from their farms towards Palestinians and Palestinian lands in Jalboun village, in Jenin governorate. 

Violations by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and the de-facto authority in the Gaza Strip

Al-Haq documented 32 violations carried out by the Palestinian security apparatuses and official entities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The most prominent of which are arbitrary detention, conducting raids, and inhumane conditions in Palestinian reform centers. According to Al-Haq’s documentation, the PA’s General Intelligence Agency, the Military Intelligence Service, and the Preventive Security Service and the Palestinian Police in the Gaza Strip were the most prominent official Palestinian entities that violated Palestinian rights in January 2020.