Israel Kills a Child Every 2 Days on West Bank

A new report from @DCIPalestine finds that Israeli forces and settlers killed Palestinian children in the West Bank at a rate of one every two days from October 7, 2023–July 31, 2024.

Twenty percent of the Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 2000 have been killed after October 7, 2023 at a rate of one child every two days, Defense for Children International – Palestine said in a latest report released on 9 September, 2024.

The report, “Targeting Childhood: Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank,” details and analyzes Palestinian child fatalities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between October 7, 2023, and July 31, 2024.

Israeli forces routinely targeted Palestinian children with live ammunition and aerial attacks, prevented ambulances and paramedics from reaching wounded children, and confiscated children’s bodies in violation of international law.

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No School, Poor Mental Health

Lack of access to education is impacting children’s mental health, safety and development and risking their future prospects

As children prepare for their first year and first day at school across several countries in the Middle East, at least 45,000 six-year-old children in the Gaza Strip are deprived of this right. The vast majority of them have been displaced from their homes and are facing a daily battle for survival.

The new school year was due to start across the State of Palestine today, but it has not resumed in the Gaza Strip where the intense conflict continues to take a dramatic toll on Gaza’s students, teachers and schools. The first graders join 625,000 children who have already been denied an entire school year, and with the conflict still ongoing, face the high risk of a second year without education.

“Children in the Gaza Strip have lost their homes, family members, friends, safety, and routine,” said UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Adele Khodr. “They have also lost the sanctuary and stimulation provided by school, putting their bright futures at risk of being dimmed by this terrible conflict.”

Since October 2023, every school in the Gaza Strip has been shuttered. Among the students who were unable to learn last year are 39,000 students who missed their final year of school and couldn’t take their Tawjihi exams. This marks the first time in decades that a graduating class in the Strip has faced such a situation.

For older children, the disruption to their education has created uncertainty and anxiety. Without schooling, young people are at an increased risk of exploitation, child labor, early marriage, and other forms of abuse, and most importantly they are at risk of dropping out of school permanently.

For younger children, the absence of schooling threatens their cognitive, social, and emotional development. Parents are reporting significant mental health and psychosocial impacts among children, including feelings of increased frustration and isolation.

Children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem are also affected as the school year starts. Increasing violence and movement restrictions since October 2023 have created new learning barriers for the 782,000 students there. Data from the Ministry of Education and the Education Cluster suggests that, on any day since October 2023, between 8 and 20 per cent of schools in the West Bank have been closed. Even when schools are not closed, the fear of violence, movement restrictions, and mental health concerns have led many students to skip school, leading to more learning loss.

In both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, attacks on schools and education have increased in recent weeks. In the Gaza Strip, at least 84 per cent of schools require full reconstruction or significant rehabilitation before schooling can resume. In the West Bank including East Jerusalem, there has been 69 attacks on schools and 2,354 incidents affecting schools, students and teachers in or around schools, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.

Despite these overwhelming and critical needs, education continues to be one of the least funded sectors in humanitarian appeals. In the State of Palestine, UNICEF’s education programming faces an 88 per cent funding gap.

To respond to this situation, UNICEF and its partners have established 39 Temporary Learning Spaces in the Gaza Strip serving over 12,400 students. In addition, recreational activities, emergency learning kits, and Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support (MHPSS) are being offered to children, youth, caregivers, and teachers in shelters.

“We must find ways to restart learning and rebuild schools to uphold the right to education of the next generations in the State of Palestine,” Khodr continued “Children need stability to cope with the trauma they have experienced, and the opportunity to develop and reach their full potential.”

“All barriers preventing us from doing our important work must be lifted. We must urgently be able to bring education and recreational supplies into Gaza at scale, have safe spaces to run learning hubs, and have guarantees students and teachers can safely access, live or learn in school buildings. Above all else, we need a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a de-escalation in the West Bank so all children can return to the classroom and damaged schools can be rebuilt.”

Reliefweb

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Truth Be Told….

Palestinian groups, Monday, said Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi “will remain an icon” for the Palestinian struggle on the local and international levels. 

Eygi, 26, a dual citizen of Türkiye and the US, was shot dead by Israeli forces during a Friday protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the National and Islamic Forces, an umbrella that includes most of the Palestinian groups, said: “Martyr Aysenur will remain an icon for the struggle and fighting at the Palestinian and international levels.”

“Many solidarity activists join our Palestinian people in the activities of the popular resistance in the towns and villages that are exposed to (Israeli) colonization and expropriation,” the statement read.

The Palestinian groups considered Eygi’s death as a confirmation of Israel’s implementing of the policies of killing, expulsion, and ban-of-entry for international solidarity activists.

The statement stressed the importance for punishing Israel for its indifference towards the life of international solidarity activists who stand against Israeli occupation and settlements construction on the occupied Palestinian territories.

Early on Monday, hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus paid farewell to activist Eygi. The funeral procession began from Rafidia Government Hospital in Nablus, with mourners walking through several streets, chanting slogans condemning Israeli actions and praising foreign supporters, according to an Anadolu reporter.

Eygi’s body is expected to be transported to Türkiye.

The Israeli military has yet to comment on the specifics of the incident or the findings of the autopsy.

Eygi’s killing echoes the case of American-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed in a similar manner in 2022.

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West Bank Journalists Need Protection From Israeli Violence

The Amman-based Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists condemns the ongoing violations committed by the Israeli occupation forces against journalists in the occupied West Bank.

“What is happening in the Palestinian territories in terms of persecution and systematic violations against journalists is horrific and dangerous,” the CDFJ stated last Thursday.

“The scenes shown by television networks showing the occupation bulldozers raiding journalists and firing live bullets directly at them, despite them wearing press badges and clothing that identify them,” are not acceptable.

“The West Bank has become like the Gaza Strip, with no safe place for journalists to practice their profession and carry out their work,” the CDFJ added.

The independent organization noted “the Israeli occupation targeted with live bullets seven journalists, directly and deliberately, riding in three press vehicles, clearly wearing press protection, in an area where there was no “field activities” on their way to the town of Kafr Dan, west of Jenin.”

The CDFJ noted also the occupation forces also blew up the broadcast room of Radio Nas in Jenin.

The Amman-based organization called for the monitoring and documenting violations against journalists in the cities of the West Bank, calling on the United Nations, international human rights organizations, and the media to “take urgent action to protect them from deliberate Israeli targeting.”

The Israeli occupation forces began its aggression on the northerns part of the West Bank, since 28 August, and which resulted in the killing of 34 Palestinians, including 19 in the city of Jenin, eight in Tulkarm, four in Tubas, and three n Hebron, bringing the death toll in the West Bank since 7 October, 2023 to 685.

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Military Eye: Israel, West Bank and Karamah’s Deadly Operation

Military and strategic expert Dr. Nidal Abu Zeid said the Karamah Crossing operation is casting its shadow over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as the occupation army from now may step up its security measures.

He pointing out to the repeated statements and warnings issued by the occupation army to its so-called home front point to the fact.

Abu Zeid added to the Jordan24 news website that the West Bank may witness martyrdom operations in the coming period in response to the increase security violations committed by the Israeli occupation.

Abu Zeid pointed out that the current calm and the decrease in the intensity of operations suggest that the occupation army is presently involved in intelligence gatherings to search for what he termed as “high-value targets.”

Regarding to what is happening in the West Bank, Abu Zeid pointed out that the Israeli occupation have already headed to the Balata camp in Nablus. He pointed out this indicates that occupation forces maybe now  heading towards the center of the West Bank, then towards the southern camps and finally target Hebron.

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