Israeli Crimes Targeting Children in the West Bank and Attacks on Holy Sites
December 31, 2024
Israel, the occupying power, is working to eliminate any attempt to save the northern and central parts of the Gaza Strip by working to end the health sector services there in conjunction with a systematic bloody bombing operation that ultimately seeks to empty the North of the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian residents and seize control of it. The World Health Organization has declared Northern Gaza an area devoid of health facilities.
The scene was catastrophic after Kamal Adwan Hospital was evacuated and stopped from operating following Israeli attack, in which it was burned and its staff was arrested. The remaining hospitals in Gaza City were also targeted, including the bombing of Al-Wafa Hospital in central Gaza and the Baptist Ahli Hospital, the destruction of equipment and supplies at the Indonesian Hospital, and the attack on Al-Awda Hospital, which claimed the lives of 5 journalists. This occurred during the period documented by the OIC Media Observatory on Israeli Crimes against Palestinians, from December 24-30, 2024. The monitored week witnessed the murdering of 225 Palestinians in 20 massacres, and 666 others were injured. The total number of Palestinians murdered from October 7, 2023, to December 29, 2024, reached 46,349 and the injured stood at 114,639.
Last week also witnessed warnings that the fate of 300 Palestinian families is unknown in Beit Hanoun, which has become the next target of the occupation forces’ shells after attacks on Jabalia and Beit Lahia.
The American newspaper, The New York Times, revealed that the occupation forces had granted freedom to its mid-ranking officers to kill civilians freely with impunity, as part of their aggression against the Gaza Strip. This policy explains the almost constant numbers of murdered, and confirms that the occupation army has been deliberately murdering nearly the same number of people every day. The OIC Observatory also noted that the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank are always similar, and often follow a repetitive pattern, with similar attacks occurring on the same day in multiple cities.
In the same context, the occupation forces demolished six houses in occupied al-Quds, Hebron, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm, They also destroyed a livestock farm, a commercial store, and a poultry farm in al-Quds, a 2000 square meter barn in Qalqilya, commercial stores and a warehouse in Tulkarm, a tourist resort and barns in Bethlehem. The occupation forces also stormed Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps in Tulkarm city, where they blew up and burned three houses, a warehouse, and electricity networks, and bulldozed a barn used for storing and selling agricultural fertilizers in Jenin. The occupation forces also bulldozed the entrance to Al-Salam Mosque in Tulkarm camp, and confiscated a bulldozer and a farming tractor in Nablus and Tubas.
In occupied al-Quds, the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque was exposed to daily raids during the past seven days, the most prominent of which was the storming by the extremist Israeli Minister of Security Itamar Ben Gvir at the head of a number of extremist settlers. The Israeli occupation authorities in the Old City of al-Quds installed a huge candlestick in Al-Buraq Square, and another candlestick on the building of the Arab Heritage Center clearly visible from the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, as part of the policy of changing the Islamic identity of the city. In Hebron, the Israeli forces attacked the director of the Ibrahimi Mosque Administration.
During the monitored period, the Israeli occupation forces murdered 15 Palestinians and arrested 151 others across various villages and cities of the West Bank and occupied al-Quds.
On the other hand, the number of settler attacks on the villages of the West Bank and occupied al-Quds in one week reached 25 attacks, during which the settlers cut tree branches and stole goods from a gas station in Nablus. They also stormed the archaeological sites in Jericho, placed symbols, and performed Talmudic rituals there.
The settlers also stormed the Khalayel Al-Loz area and seized six tents and an agricultural room containing solar panels and equipment.
During the period from December 24 to 30, 2024, there were numerous attacks on children and adolescents in the cities and villages of the West Bank and occupied al-Quds. Among the incidents, a settler ran over two little sisters, in addition to the arrest of two children in al-Quds, and another child was murdered in an Israeli bombardment of the town of Tamoun, and the occupation forces arrested three other children in the town of Sinjil and Nablus.
The OIC Observatory also recorded five settlement activities during which settlers plowed Palestinian lands in the village of Khalayel Al-Loz and the area of Nabaa Ghazal with the aim of seizing them. Settlers also built a settlement outpost in the village of Bardala and another in the town of Al-Auja and set up arbors in the town of Yatta.
Over the past seven days, the OIC Observatory documented 1,659 different crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army and settlers in various cities and villages of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and occupied al-Quds.