Key Developments (April 24-27)
- On Monday, April 24th, Israeli forces raided the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan in Salfit, in the central occupied West Bank. According to reports, three Palestinians were injured with rubber-coated steel bullets, and dozens of others suffered from tear gas inhalation. According to Middle East Eye, a youth from the town, Omar Asse, was blinded when an Israeli grenade exploded in front of him during the raid while he was on his way to the supermarket to buy groceries for his family.
- A day after that raid on Qarawat Bani Hassan, the ‘Salfit Brigade,’ a battalion of armed fighters from the Salfit area, officially announced itself and claimed responsibility for a shooting operation that targeted the nearby mega-settlement of Ariel, which took place at approximately 5:00 a.m. Tuesday. The brigade signed their statement, “Your brothers, Salfit Battalion (Brigade of the martyr hero Omar Abu Laila). Omar Abu Laila was 19 when he was killed by Israeli soldiers in 2019 after the teenager killed an Israeli soldier and a settler.
- Also on Tuesday, April 25, an Israeli settler was reportedly injured in a suspected shooting attack outside the Ofra settlement in the Ramallah area of the occupied West Bank. Following the shooting, Israeli forces enforced widespread closures of roads in the Ramallah area, stopping and searching Palestinian vehicles. On the same day, Israeli settlers blocked off roads near Israeli military checkpoints, preventing Palestinians from passing through.
- Palestinian political prisoner Khader Adnan surpassed 80 days of hunger strike this week and was hospitalized in an Israeli prison, where his family says he is “dying.” Adnan, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement member, is currently in prison on charges of association with PIJ and participating in protests. The current strike is Adnan’s third extended hunger strike since 2011-2012. His current arrest marks the 11th time Israel has jailed the political activist and father of nine.
- On Thursday, April 27, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man, identified by Wafa news as Ahmad Yaaqob Taha, 39. Israeli forces claimed Taha attempted to stab soldiers at a checkpoint outside the Ariel settlement.
- For the 20th day in a row on Thursday, April 27, Israeli forces enforced tight restrictions at the Hamra checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank. The closures began earlier this month after a suspected Palestinian shooter opened fire on a vehicle belonging to Israeli settlers. Three British-Israeli settlers, including a teenager, were killed. According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, at least 10 Palestinians were detained at the checkpoint between Wednesday and Thursday at the checkpoint. Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to seal off a number of dirt roads used by farmers in the area and enforced stops and searches at all major roads leading to the Palestinian city of Jericho.
Important figures
- At least 105 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the year, according to Wafa news agency
- There are currently 4,900 Palestinian political detainees being held in Israeli prisons. Nineteen prisoners are between the ages of 12 and 17, including ten who are being held without trial or charge.
