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West Bank Dispatch: Jericho and Aqbat Jabr under siege

Jericho enters its tenth consecutive day under siege as the Israeli army launches deadly raids into Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in search of Palestinian resistance fighters.
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Two Israeli soldiers stopping Palestinian cars at a checkpoint set up at the entrance to Jericho.
Israeli soldiers stopping cars outside the entrance to Jericho, April 30, 2023. (Photo: Wafa News Agency)

Key Developments (April 27- May 1)

Read more from the West Bank Dispatch here.
Read more from the West Bank Dispatch here.
  • Two Palestinians were killed this week. On Monday Morning, May 1, Israeli forces targeted and invaded Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in Jericho, killing 17-year-old Jibreel Mohammad Kamal al-Lad’a with a bullet to the head, and injuring six others, with three remaining in critical condition. The 17-year-old is the second Palestinian killed in the Jericho refugee camp within the last week. With al-Lad’a, the number of Palestinian minors killed this year reached 19 — half of the total number of Palestinian children and minors killed in the entire 12 years before 2022 (the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the UN began documenting fatalities in 2005). In addition to al-Lad’aa, on Thursday, April 27 Israeli forces shot and killed 39-year-old Ahmad Yacoub Taha, who was shot near the Palestinian district of Salfit.
  • May 1 marks the tenth day in a row that Jericho is put under siege by the Israeli army, closing off all its main entries and exits and stopping Palestinians’ cars at checkpoints for long hours.
  • Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, 44, nears 90 days of hunger strike as medical experts, family, and friends warn that his life is in peril. Adnan is protesting his arrest on February 5 of this year, the third hunger strike he has led following two others in the last decade, which were also to protest his imprisonment by Israel at different points. On Sunday afternoon, April 30, the Israeli Ofer military court refused the appeal put forth by Adnan’s legal team in enforcing a previous court order for releasing Adnan. Due to his deteriorating health conditions, Adnan has been joining his court trials via video. His wife, Randa Moussa, warns that Israel will continue holding him in the Ramleh prison clinic to force-feed him, a practice deemed illegal under international law. Despite his deteriorating health, Adnan’s next court hearing was postponed until May 10.
  • Israeli presence and settler violence continues to increase in Hebron. On Sunday, April 30, an Israeli settler rammed into and injured 42-year-old Kamal Abu Mariah near the entrance of Hebron.

Key Figures

  • 102 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army and settlers during the first four months of 2023.
  • 19 Palestinian children and minors have been killed since the start of the year.

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