Palestine

Sharing, Work and news about Volunteers
In March, after 4 months of administrative detention, one of the leaders of nonviolent popular resistance, Munther Amira, a resident of the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, was released. Operation Dove had the opportunity to hear the words of the activist who reported the serious physical and psychological torture inflicted upon him in Israeli prisons.
Raids and violence continued in all villages by armed settlers in civilian attire or military uniform, supported by the Israeli Army and the Israeli Police. The declaration of Closed Military Area in many places where shepherds usually graze, such as the valleys of Humra and Khelly, and the village of Ar Rakeez, is frequent. Israeli soldiers provide incomplete or erroneous documentation to justify the measure. Leveraging this and other means, settlers and the army oppress and expel shepherds from their lands and arrest those who resist in all villages of Masafer Yatta. Emblematic of the harsh repression at this historical moment is the arrest of two Palestinian women who were grazing their flocks near the entrance of At-Tuwani village.
The two women, mother and daughter, were handcuffed and blindfolded by Israeli soldiers, then taken to the Susya settlement where they were interrogated before being transferred to the Kiryat Arba police station, from where they were released the same evening.
The targeting of international and Israeli activists by the occupying forces is also increasing; in many cases members of various groups have been detained and arrested.

Current situation
The situation in Gaza has become increasingly critical with non-stop shelling, even in areas classified as safe by the Israeli military. The invasion by land has continued and the Israeli army has demolished entire neighborhoods with explosives and bulldozers.
Since December 4th, most communication services in Gaza City and the north of the Strip have been suspended and it is becoming increasingly difficult for residents to communicate with the outside world.
The number of victims has exceeded 20,000 and hospitals are in total collapse due to the exorbitant number of injured people. There is a lack of any kind of medical aid, and amputations are almost always carried out without anesthesia, often on children (Doctors without Borders reports that at least 10 amputations a day are carried out on minors).
At the same time, since the beginning of December, there have been violent clashes in Jenin and the demolition of various Palestinian structures by Israeli bulldozers.
In the West Bank forced evacuations of Palestinian inhabitants from their houses also continue (from October to December 5th almost 1,000 Palestinians were violently displaced from their villages and homes).

Current situation
On April 2nd, the creation of the National Guard led by Ben Gvir (leader of an Israeli far-right party) has been approved by around 250 million euros funding.
During the last days of Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims, East Jerusalem was the scene of violent attacks that triggered an escalation. Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the night of April 4^th and attacked dozens of believers in the Al-Qibli Mosque, claiming to be suppressing "riots" within it. But according to the witnesses, the Israeli police beat the worshipers with batons and threw tear gas and sound bombs only to force them out of the prayer halls. The Red Crescent reported 12 wounded. At least 400 Palestinians have been arrested. Moreover, 24 hours later the occupation forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the same way. In the following days, men under 40 were prevented from accessing the Al-Aqsa compound, forcing the believers to pray outside the gates.
On April 7th, thirty rockets were fired from Lebanon upon Israel, shortly after Hezbollah declared its support for "any measure" the Palestinians wanted to take after the attack on Al-Aqsa. During the night, Israel quickly react, firing rockets into southern Lebanon and bombing the Gaza Strip.
On April 8th, a vehicle driven by an Israeli Arab crashed into the crowd who was strolling along the Tel Aviv waterfront. The car overturned and, once the driver came out, he attempted to shoot into the crowd, according to the Israeli police. The man was killed.

Current situation
On December 1^st Israel revoked the residency status in East Jerusalem to the French-Palestinian Human Rights lawyer Salah Hammouri who has been accused of serious crimes against the State security. On March 7^th, 2022, Hammouri, 37 years old, was arrested and held in Israel for nine months under administrative detention. After having revoked his citizenship, the Minister of the Interior decided for his expulsion and, on December 18^th, Hammouri was forcibly sent to Paris, with his hands and feet handcuffed.
On December 2^nd the occupation forces shot at Ammar Hamdi Nayef Miflih, 23 years old, killing him, in Huwwara, near Nablus. Israel declared that the gunfire was the consequence of a stabbing attempt, but many videos prove that Miflih didn’t hold anything in his hands when he was hit and murdered. The Israeli forces prevent paramedics from ensuring medical assistance and they confiscated his body that was given back to his family only on December 29^th.
During a raid of the Israeli army occurred on December 12^th, Jana Majdi Issam Assaf, 15 years old, was killed by gunshots while she was on the roof of her house in Jenin.
Those are just two of the 12 Palestinians who were killed in December.
2022 has been the most lethal year since 2006 in Palestine (East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza): 230 Palestinians were killed, 6.500 Palestinians were detained by Israeli occupation forces – among them 800 were minors and 2.134 were held under administrative detention. More than 900 buildings were seized or demolished thus causing the forced displacement of 1.000 Palestinians from their houses. During the year, around 1.500 attacks conducted by Israeli settlers against the Palestinians or their properties were reported.
On December 29^th, the new far-right government has been elected and the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he will work in order to formally annex the West Bank. During the speech in which he explained the main aims of his new government, he stated: “the Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the land of Israel”.

Current situation
In October there has been an escalation of violence. As a matter of fact, the collaboration between the Israeli army and the Israeli settlers maintains and intensifies the apartheid system perpetrated by the State of Israel against the Palestinian population.
In particular, Israeli settlers used violence during the celebrations of three Jewish holidays in the first half of the month: the settlers, escorted by the Israeli army, invaded both the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and the Ibrahim one in Al Khalil dozens of times. Not only have these repeated incursions barred Palestinians from accessing their places of worship, but they also resulted in a significant number of arbitrary arrests and detentions. In addition to this, throughout the month there were dozens of attacks by settlers on the Palestinian civilian population in the cities of Al Khalil, Nablus, Huwara and Jerusalem: shootings into crowds, attacks on schools, roads blocked and damages to private Palestinian cars and shops.
In October, the olive harvest began throughout Palestine, a symbol of Palestinian resistance. This activity brought together Palestinian, Israeli and international activists who wanted to support Palestinian families, scared that the Israeli settlers and occupation forces could attack them while they were harvesting their own land - which unfortunately occurred.