West Bank Dispatch: Three Palestinians killed, 1,000 prisoners go on hunger strike

Key Developments (August 14-17):

• Two Palestinians, including a minor, were killed by Israeli forces during a raid early Tuesday morning, August 15th, in the Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp in Jericho. The two young men were identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Health as Qusai al-Walaji, 16, and Mohammad Nujoom, 25. A third Palestinian was also detained from the camp during the raid. The Aqbat Jaber refugee camp has become a target of frequent Israeli raids and attacks this year, as part of the Israeli military’s attempts to squander the proliferation of armed resistance groups in the West Bank. With the killing of al-Walaji and Nujoom on Tuesday, the number of Palestinians killed in Aqbat Jaber camp this year has risen to 11 people. 

• Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank city of Jenin early Thursday Morning, August 17th, shooting and killing one Palestinian and injuring several others. According to the MOH, Mustafa al-Kastouni, 32, was shot in the head, chest and abdomen during the raid. The health ministry also added that a woman and member of its nursing staff was also shot and wounded by Israeli gunfire. The Israeli raid, which was conducted to allegedly arrest several Islamic Jihad-affiliated fighters, sparked widespread confrontation from both armed and unarmed Palestinians in the area. While the Israeli army claimed in a statement that it “shot back” after its soldiers came under fire, a Reuters report quoting eyewitnessed said that the soldiers, who arrived in civilian vehicles, “began firing at the house as soon as they got out….without warning [al-Kastouni] or members of his family to leave.” Israeli forces blew up al-Kastouni’s family home, causing significant damage to the home and a bakery next door. Following the killing of al-Kastouni, who was a fighter affiliated with Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, his story quickly went viral on social media. Palestinian journalists and social media users shared a photo that purportedly showed a young al-Kastouni running away from an Israeli army tank during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s. The photo of him as a boy was juxtaposed with photos of him as a resistance fighter today. 

• Israeli forces raided the densely populated Balata refugee camp in Nablus city on Wednesday, August 16th, blowing up a building and shooting and injuring dozens of local residents with live ammunition and tear gas. According to local reports, Israeli forces raided the camp and began forcing out families living in a residential building that also housed the offices of the Fatah movement in the camp, before blowing up the building. The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency services said that more than 80 Palestinians suffered from tear gas inhalation during the raid, and that one man was seriously injured with live ammunition, and six others were injured with shrapnel. The Red Crescent also said Israeli forces blocked entrances and exits to the camp, preventing its crews from reaching the wounded to treat them. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces fired toward press crews that were covering the raid. In a separate incident in Nablus, Israeli forces shot and detained a Palestinian man near the Huwwara checkpoint south of Nablus. Red Crescent crews also reported being prevented from treating the injured man. Israeli forces also conducted a raid near the Joseph’s Tomb area of Nablus, injuring dozens of Palestinians with tear gas, while escorting settlers into the area to perform religious rituals. 

• Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian school in a Bedouin community near the village of Kafr Malik outside of Ramallah, leaving around 50 students without a school. The demolition began early Thursday morning, when Israeli forces and bulldozers raided the community of al-Qaboun and made their way to the Ras al-Teen school and began tearing it down. According to Middle East Eye, the demolition took place just days after Israeli settlers attacked and ransacked the school, which was the only school in the area. The Palestinian Ministry of Education condemned the demolition for “depriving students from obtaining their right to education.” According to the PA-owned Wafa news agency, the residents of al-Qaboun were recently displaced from their homes due to Israeli settler violence. Wafa added that the community used to consist of 500 people, but due to constant Israeli violence over the years, the residents have been dispersed across different areas throughout the Ramallah district of the central West Bank. 

• Israel’s crackdown on Palestinian prisoners continued this week, as hundreds of political prisoners threatened to go on open hunger strike in protest. Israeli forces, which Palestinian prisoners groups refer to as “special repression forces,” stormed Section 3 in the Naqab prison on Thursday and forcibly removed a number of prisoners from their cells and relocated them. It was the latest in a series of raids by the Israel Prison Service (IPS), which at the behest of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has been imposing a number of new restrictions and punitive measures targeting Palestinian prisoners. Ben-Gvir visited the Ofer prison outside Ramallah on Wednesday, saying, “the policy that I’m leading as the minister in charge of the Israel Prison Service should be known by everyone, and I’m glad that it’s begun to be implemented: reducing as much as possible the indulgences for Hamas terrorists”. On Thursday, shortly after the raid on the Naqab prison, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners announced that they would launch a hunger strike in protest of Israeli repression, local Palestinian prisoners rights groups reported. A joint statement said 75 prisoners recently forcibly transferred from Naqab prison to Nafha prison would also participate in the strike. Local reports indicated that the strike went into effect shortly after 7pm local time Thursday and included around 1,000 prisoners. The prisoners called on the Palestinian people outside the prison walls to partake in protests and demonstrations and to rally in support of the prisoners in their effort to end the targeted repression against them by the IPS and Israeli government. 

• Palestinian Authority Security Forces conducted raids in the city of Jenin,  seizing weapons and ammunition, and arresting a number of unidentified people in Jenin on Monday night. According to local reports, the PA security forces seized a weapons lathe. 12 M16 rifles, along with a number of explosives and carlo submachine guns near the Jenin-area town of Sannour. The PA’s Jenin district commander told the PA-owned Wafa news agency that its forces arrested “wanted persons” allegedly “based on intelligence information, pointing out that the equipment seized was used in the manufacturing of weapons, which increase crime and shootings.” The commander also “[urged] the public to cooperate with the security forces to create a safe environment for the children and people in Jenin.” While it remained unconfirmed if those arrested were members of the resistance in Jenin, the raid is the latest in a widespread effort by the PA to “regain control” in cities like Jenin and Nablus, where armed resistance against Israel has surged in the past year. Over the past week, PA security forces have reportedly arrested five Palestinians who are allegedly affiliated with the resistance. Many of those who were arrested are former prisoners, previously jailed by Israel for their political and resistance activity. 

Important Figures

• An estimated 227 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire, including soldiers and settlers, since the start of the year

• Israel is currently imprisoning 5,100 Palestinian political prisoners in its jails, according to prisoners rights group Addameer