Over 4,000 Palestinians displaced in the West Bank in 2023
In 2023, about 4,000 Palestinians were displaced due to policies and practices implemented by the Israeli authorities or Israeli settlers, all contributing to a coercive environment in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These are the highest numbers that OCHA has ever recorded of Palestinians displaced in any given year.
OCHA has recorded the displacement of Palestinians due to demolitions systematically since 2009. While the highest rate of displacement in 2023 was caused by settler violence and access restriction, this phenomenon may not capture the full scope of Palestinians being displaced in the West Bank due to multiple coercive factors, including demolitions of Palestinian homes and property, systematic discrimination against Palestinians, Israeli forces arrests and often violent operations. Insofar as such actions are committed by or with the approval or acquiescence of the Israeli authorities to force Palestinians to leave their homes and lands or constitute actions that create conditions which force Palestinians to leave their homes and their lands, such actions raise concerns of forcible transfer, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
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A Palestinian child sitting on the rubble of his families demolished house in Jabal Al Mukkabir, East Jerusalem. Photo by OCHA
Feb 27 Protest & a Great Act of Solidarity
On Feb. 27 Alliance members participated in a spirited protest outside the Cambridge venue The Sinclair where an Israeli musician, Ishay Ribo, was holding a concert fundraiser for what its sponsoring organization, Harvard Chabad, called the "healing and rebuilding of Israel." Tickets prices reportedly ranged from $36 for students to $18,000. The event was boycotted by the entire 30-strong staff of The Sinclair - its security, bartenders, and managers - forcing Harvard Chabad to hire temporary workers for the evening.
Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #126
The protection and safety of humanitarian aid workers and medical personnel continues to be a serious concern amid widespread hostilities and attacks. On 22 February, a UN staff member and several members of his family were killed in an airstrike in Deir Al Balah, according to UNOPS. A volunteer paramedic with the PRCS ambulance centre in Rafah was also reported killed, when his family home in eastern Rafah was struck on 23 February. Since 7 October, 161 UN staff have been killed in Gaza. Between 7 October and 12 February, there were 378 attacks on health care across Gaza, affecting 98 health facilities and 98 ambulances, according to WHO.
Attacks on or near schools hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to be reported, according to UNRWA. On 22 February, at least two people were reportedly killed by gunfire at the main gate of a school in Al Amal neigbourhood west of Khan Younis. On 23 February, several IDPs sheltering at a school in Gaza city fled after the school was reportedly hit by artillery fire. As of 24 February, at least 403 IDPs in UNRWA shelters have been killed, and at least 1,385 have been injured, according to UNRWA.
read the entire report: Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #126
Medical evacuation of 24 patients from Al Amal hospital amid hostilities in Khan Younis, 25 February 2024. The UN and the Palestine Red Crescent Society have additionally completed the evacuation of 72 critical cases from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Photo by OCHA
