UN: Israeli forces martyred 8 Palestinians, including 20 kids, in two weeks, demolished 29 buildings

A new report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Israeli forces have martyred eight Palestinians and injured 140 others, including 20 children, in the occupied Palestinian territories in a span of two weeks.

The latest data was released in the bi-weekly Protection of Civilians report on Saturday. It covered the period between February 22 and March 9, Palestine’s official Wafa news agency reported.

According to the report, a 23-year-old Palestinian man who was shot by Israeli forces near the West Bank village of Burqa, north of Nablus, on March 2, succumbed to his wounds a week later.

On March 1, a 19-year-old Palestinian was shot and martyred near the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, the report said. Two others were martyred by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp on the same day.

The UN report said a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was shot in the village of Abu Dis in East al-Quds on March 6, while two Palestinians of 19 and 22 years of age were shot and martyred in the Old City of al-Quds after they allegedly stabbed and injured three Israeli policemen. A 13-year-old boy was also shot and martyred near the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, on February 22.

The report said virtually half of the injuries occurred during protests against Israeli settlements as well as in solidarity with Palestinian families at risk of forced eviction in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East al-Quds.

Sheikh Jarrah has been the scene of frequent crackdowns by Israeli regime forces on the Palestinians protesting against the threatened expulsion of dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in favor of Israeli settler groups.

Since Israel seized East al-Quds in a 1967 war, Israeli settler organizations have claimed ownership of land in Sheikh Jarrah and have filed multiple lawsuits to evict Palestinians from the area.

Furthermore, the report said Israeli forces also demolished 29 Palestinian-owned buildings, two of them punitively, displacing 62 people, including 28 children.