UN: Israel wounded 78 Palestinians and arrested 106 others over a one-week period

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its weekly report that the Israeli army wounded at least 78 Palestinians, including 32 children, in clashes during 10-16 May.

The report, which was released on Friday and details incidents occurring in the time period mentioned above, said that the Israeli army carried out at least 78 search raids in Palestinian homes across the OPT and arrested 106 Palestinians.

It also said that a fire broke out next to Beit ‘Awa village in Hebron following the firing of light flares by Israeli forces, resulting in the damage of around 250 dunams of land planted with olive trees.

Another 30 trees were partially burnt when the Israeli forces fired teargas canisters at protesters in Kafr Qaddoum, north of the West Bank city of Qalqilia.

The report noted that in Gaza’s access restricted area on the sea, 12 fishermen, including four minors, were forced to take off their clothes and swim towards Israeli naval boats where they were taken into custody.

In addition, the report said that Israeli forces lifted the restrictions imposed since November 2015 on the access of non-resident Palestinians to certain parts of Hebron City via two key checkpoints, adding that despite this, Palestinian movement within the settlement area of the city remains severely restricted.

It added that in East Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities banned two Palestinians from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque for two and three months, on grounds of being involved in protests against the entry of Israeli settlers to the site.

The report stated that Israel also demolished or confiscated 16 Palestinian owned structures in Area C of the West Bank on grounds of lack of building permits.

On 16 May, seven donor-funded residential containers were also demolished and materials for another three were confiscated in the Palestinian Bedouin community of Jabal al-Baba in the city of Jerusalem.