Every year thousands of Christians from around the world travel to Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas. But just 46 miles away, an entire community of Palestinian Christians is banned from traveling to the city, even for the holidays.
Israeli settler violence against Palestinians soared in 2022. Palestinians say the worrying trend will only worsen as right-wing extremists make their home in Israel’s new government.
Palestinian human rights lawyer Salah Hammouri, who is currently imprisoned by Israel, has been ordered by the Israeli state to be deported on December 4th, following the revocation of his Jerusalem residency status.
Rights groups and activists have expressed fears that Hammouri’s deportation will set a dangerous precedent for other Palestinians in the city, who could be forced out of their homes if found to be in “breach of loyalty” to the apartheid state.
The three Palestinians killed overnight were identified by the Palestinian Health Ministry as Jawad Rimawi, 22, Thafer Rimawi, 21, and Mufid Ikhlayel, 44. A fourth Palestinian was killed later on Tuesday morning after carrying out a car-ramming that left one Israeli wounded.
18-year-old Muhammad Murad Souf was killed Tuesday after carrying out a stabbing near the illegal Ariel settlement in the occupied West Bank that left three Israeli settlers dead.
The raid lasted several hours, during which time Israeli forces surrounded several homes where members of the “Lion’s Den” group were reportedly fighting from.
Two Palestinians were killed over the weekend in the occupied West Bank, including a member of the armed resistance group Areen al-Usud (“The Lion’s Den”) in Nablus, in what the group has called a targeted assassination by Israel.
Israeli settlers, escorted by the Israeli army, invaded a neighborhood in Ramallah last week, further dispelling the illusion of PA sovereignty.
Samoudi’s death comes amidst heightened escalations in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as Israeli forces continue to crack down on Palestinian armed resistance fighters, conducting near nightly, deadly raids into Palestinian towns, cities, and refugee camps.
Rayan Yasser Suleiman, 7, was pronounced dead on Thursday afternoon after he fell unconscious near his home in the town of Tuqu’ in the southern occupied West Bank. Rayan’s family says that his heart stopped and he collapsed after he ran in fear from Israeli soldiers who were raiding his home in search of alleged “stone-throwers.”