Palestine in Pictures: November 2022

Palestinians attend the funeral of Khalid Shurab and Mustafa al-Samari, who drowned during their attempt to reach Europe, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 1 November.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Occupation forces killed at least 20 Palestinians in the West Bank during November as Israel elected its most extreme right-wing government yet in its fifth vote in less than four years.

On 2 November, Habbas Abd al-Hafeez Rayyan, 54, was shot and killed at a checkpoint near the central West Bank city of Ramallah after he hit a soldier, causing serious injuries, and exited his vehicle while brandishing an ax.

The following day, Israeli soldiers raided Rayyan’s home and killed a second man, Daoud Mahmoud Khalil Rayyan, 42, during protests that erupted during the operation.

“Israeli forces prevented medical staff from reaching the injured man for at least half an hour and only allowed the ambulance to transport him after confirming his death,” the UN monitoring group OCHA stated, citing medical sources.

Also on 3 November, Amer Husam Bader, 20, was shot and killed by police after stabbing and moderately injuring an officer in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Israel is detaining Bader’s body, like that of Habbas Rayyan. Israel is withholding the bodies of more than 100 Palestinians killed in alleged and actual attacks on Israelis in recent years so that they may be used by the government as bargaining chips in future negotiations – a practice permitted by the state’s high court.

Two killed during Jenin raid

Two Palestinians were killed during a raid by undercover Israeli forces in Jenin that same day.

Farouq Jamil Hasan Salameh, a commander of Islamic Jihad’s military wing, was killed as occupation forces besieged a butchery where people were preparing to celebrate the slain fighter’s upcoming wedding.

Israeli forces also shot and killed Muhammad Samer Muhammad Khalouf, 14, at the entrance to the camp during ensuing confrontations.

Defense for Children International-Palestine said that the boy “allegedly fired a homemade gun at Israeli military vehicles.”

Another teen, Musab Muhammad Mahmoud Zabin Nafal, was shot and killed at an intersection near Ramallah on 5 November.

The Israeli military accused the 18-year-old, whose cousin of the same age was wounded during the incident, of throwing stones and damaging vehicles.

“No casualties among Israeli settlers were reported and, according to Palestinian sources, the full circumstances of the incident remain unclear,” OCHA, the UN monitoring group, stated.

On 9 November, Israeli forces shot and injured Rifat Eissi, 29, while he was trying to reach his workplace in Israel through a gap in Israel’s wall near Anin, a village in the northern West Bank. Eissi, who spent most of his life in Jordan, died from his wounds.

“Not being from here, he probably froze on the spot, utterly terrified, when a white Kia Picanto pulled up next to him and four soldiers emerged from it, their weapons trained on him,” Gideon Levy reported for the Tel Aviv daily Haaretz.

“According to eyewitness testimony, Eissi did not try to flee at that point,” at which an Israeli soldier fired three bullets into his body. Israel prevented Eissi’s wife and 7-year-old daughter from traveling to Jordan to attend his funeral, according to Levy.

That same day, Israeli forces shot Mahdi Muhammad Hamdallah Hashash, 15, near Joseph’s Tomb and detonated an explosive object near the teen and other Palestinian youths. Mahdi was “severely injured” by the shrapnel, according to Defense for Children International-Palestine.

Mahdi was killed while confronting Israeli settlers and occupation forces at the religious shrine during a celebration of the far-right and religious bloc’s electoral triumph.

Children killed

On 14 November, Israeli forces shot and killed Fulla Rasmi Abdulaziz Mallouh, 14, while she was traveling in a car near Ramallah.

Soldiers fired at least 20 bullets at the car, hitting Fulla in the head and chest, Defense for Children International-Palestine stated. Israel claimed that soldiers fired at a “suspicious vehicle that was accelerating toward them,” according to OCHA.

The following day, Muhammad Murad al-Souf, 19, killed three Israelis in and around the Ariel industrial zone, where he worked, in the northern West Bank, before being shot and fatally injured.

During the attack that lasted more than 20 minutes, al-Souf stabbed and killed two Israelis before ramming another settler with a stolen vehicle, according to OCHA.

Two additional Palestinian children were killed in the northern West Bank in late November.

Mahmoud Abdujaleel Huda al-Sadi, 17, was shot and killed on his way to school during an Israeli incursion into Jenin refugee camp on 21 November. The teen was a trainer for the Freedom Theater’s child and youth program in the camp.

The following day, Ahmad Amjad Muhammad Shehadeh, 16, was shot dead during confrontations near Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.

“Ahmad was near an armed Palestinian man during confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians when an Israeli sniper shot Ahmad in the chest, striking his heart,” according to Defense for Children International-Palestine.

Joseph’s Tomb, important to Jews, Christians and Muslims, is a frequent flashpoint of occupation violence.

“Since the beginning of 2022, Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians, including two children, and have injured 525, while accompanying Israeli settlers to the site,” according to OCHA.

Israeli occupation forces and settlers have killed 34 Palestinian children in the West Bank so far this year.

An additional 17 children were killed during Israel’s three-day military offensive in Gaza in August, 10 of them as a result of Israeli strikes. The remaining seven children were killed as a result of misfired rockets from Gaza or in unclear circumstances.

On 23 November, Muhammad Abu Kishek, 22, died after being shot in the stomach by Israeli forces during a raid on Nablus the previous day.

That same day, Muhammad Hirzallah, a 30-year-old fighter with the Lions Den, an armed resistance group, succumbed to injuries sustained when he was shot in the head by the Israeli military during confrontations in July.

On 28 November, Israeli forces shot and killed Mufid Muhammad Ikhleil, 44, as Palestinians confronted raiding soldiers in Beit Ummar, a village near the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Ikhleil was shot in the back of the head while standing near a shop, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

Brothers killed

The following day, Israeli forces killed Jawad Abd al-Rahman al-Rimawi, 22, and Thafer Abd al-Jawad al-Rimawi, 20, during a raid in Kufr Ein village near Ramallah. The slain brothers were both students at nearby Birzeit University, where their funeral was held.

Also on 29 November, soldiers shot and killed Raed Ghazi al-Naasan, 22, in al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah during a daytime operation in which occupation forces distributed home demolition notices, sparking protests.

And that same day Rani Mamoun Fayez Abu Ali, 45, was killed in an alleged car ramming attack in which a soldier was seriously injured near Jerusalem-area Migron settlement in the West Bank. Abu Ali’s death may amount to an extrajudicial execution.

On 30 November, the last day of the month, Israeli soldiers shot Muhammad Tawfiq Shaker Badarneh in the chest, killing him, during confrontations in Yabad village near Jenin. The slain man “posed no danger or threat to Israeli soldiers’ lives,” according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

Israeli forces have killed approximately 200 Palestinians so far this year. Two Islamic Jihad fighters killed during an Israeli raid in Jenin on 1 December and a Palestinian man was extrajudicially executed by a Border Police officer in Huwwara near Nablus on 2 December.

Around 30 people in Israel and Israelis in the West Bank were killed in the context of the occupation during the same period.

In addition to the three Israels killed in and around the Ariel industrial zone, a 16-year-old Israeli boy with dual Canadian citizenship died in a bombing in Jerusalem on 23 November.

Israeli authorities stated that an organized cell planted “high quality, powerful explosive devices with a high level of damage” that were detonated remotely, roughly half an hour apart during the peak morning commute.

No Palestinian factions have claimed responsibility for the bombings but various groups described them as a natural response to Israel’s ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people.

A second person, a 50-year-old Israeli originally from Ethiopia, died as a result of injuries sustained in the Jerusalem attack on 26 November.

Earlier in the month, on 7 November, an Israeli man died from injuries sustained during a stabbing attack in al-Funduq village near Kedumim settlement in late October.

Jabaliya tragedy

Also during the month, 21 Palestinians in Gaza died after a house fire in Jabaliya refugee camp.

The horrific blaze on 17 November claimed multiple generations of the Abu Raya family, who had gathered to celebrate the third birthday of one of several children who died from injuries sustained during the fire.

“Gaza’s interior ministry said an initial investigation revealed that large amounts of gasoline had been stored at the site, fueling the blaze that quickly engulfed the building,” Al Jazeera reported.

“It took firefighters more than an hour to get control of the massive flames that burst through the top floor of a four-story residential building,” Al Jazeera added.

“Witnesses said they could hear screaming but could not help those trapped inside because of the intensity of the fire.”

And on 23 November, Palestinian gunmen abducted the body of a 17-year-old Druze citizen of Israel from a hospital where the high schooler was treated after being critically injured in a car crash.

The abduction sparked a crisis and raised fears of a massive deployment of force in Jenin before the teen’s body was transferred 30 hours later.

Sami Abu Shehadeh, the leader of Balad, a party representing Palestinians in Israel, casts his ballot at a polling station in Jaffa during the 2022 Israeli general election on 1 November.

Saeed Qaq APA images

University students in Gaza City rally in support of the Lions Den, an emerging armed resistance group based in the Old City of Nablus in the West Bank, on 1 November. The group has claimed a series of recent attacks including the killing of an Israeli soldier in Shavei Shomron settlement in October.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinian women with hearing disabilities attend an embroidery class held by the Needle and Thread initiative in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 2 November. The initiative aims to teach Palestinian women with hearing disabilities the basics of embroidery in order to integrate them into society and provide a source of income amid high unemployment rates in Gaza, under economic blockade for 16 years.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians view an art exhibition held in Gaza City on the 105th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, 3 November. The 1917 declaration by the British foreign secretary announced support for the establishment of “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

Youssef Abu Watfa APA images

Masked gunmen from the Balata Brigades hold a military parade in Balata refugee camp near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, 4 November.

Nasser Ishtayeh SOPA Images

Palestinians inspect a site targeted in Israeli airstrikes in Maghazi, central Gaza Strip, 4 November. Israeli warplanes hit several targets in different parts of the besieged Gaza Strip early that day, causing damage but no injuries.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians carry the body of Fatima Bernawi during her funeral in Gaza City on 6 November. Bernawi died days earlier at the Palestinian Hospital in Cairo after a recent deterioration of her health. Bernawi was the Fatah party’s first female prisoner, held by Israel for around 10 years before being exiled, ultimately returning to Gaza in 1994.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians protest at An-Najah National University in the West Bank city of Nablus to demand that Israel hand over the bodies of slain Palestinians, 6 November.

Shadi Jarar’ah APA images

A Palestinian farmer harvests clementines in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 7 November.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians look out toward the Dome of the Rock mosque and its surroundings in Jerusalem’s Old City on 9 November.

Saeed Qaq APA images

Layla Issawi, the mother of Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi, sits in her home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya on 9 November. Issawi embarked on a hunger strike after being placed in solitary confinement in Israeli prison and in solidarity with the families of slain Palestinians whose bodies are being held by Israel.

Saeed Qaq APA images

A Palestinian farmer in Beit Lahiya, in the northern West Bank, displays strawberries packaged for sale in the West Bank, 13 November.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Maysoon Manasra, the mother of Ahmad Manasra, who has been imprisoned by Israel since he was 13, at her East Jerusalem home on 14 November. Ahmad, now 21, was convicted of attempted murder after his older cousin stabbed two Israelis. The young man, who has schizophrenia, is in solitary confinement.

Saeed Qaq APA images

Friends and relatives of Fulla Mallouh, 14, mourn during the girl’s funeral in the village of Beit Awa, near the West Bank city of Hebron, on 15 November. Israeli forces shot and killed the teen the previous day.

Mamoun Wazwaz APA images

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s incoming prime minister, poses with representatives of participating parties in parliament after the swearing-in of Israel’s 25th Knesset, 15 November.

Ilia Yefimovich DPA

Zaka volunteers, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish emergency response team, work at the scene of an attack in and around the Ariel industrial zone in the West Bank on 15 November, during which a Palestinian killed three Israelis.

Oren Ziv ActiveStills

Israeli forces detain a Palestinian during a raid in the village of Haris in the northern West Bank on 15 November following an attack in which a Palestinian killed three Israelis.

Palestinians inspect a truck loaded with citrus fruit that was set on fire by Jewish settlers during an attack near Shavei Shomron settlement, west of the West Bank city of Nablus, after a Palestinian killed three Israelis in and around the Ariel industrial zone, 16 November.

Nasser Ishtayeh SOPA Images

Protesters march in Sheikh Jarrah to denounce a years-long bid by Jewish settlers to take over Palestinians homes in the neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, 18 November.

Saeed Qaq APA images

Palestinians, some wearing shirts showing a portrait of slain Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, attend the FIFA Fan Festival opening day at Al Bidda park in Doha on 19 November ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament.

Alaa Shamaly APA images

Israeli occupation forces guard rampaging Jewish settlers on their way to visit the tomb of Othniel ben Kenaz in the H1 area of Hebron (under nominal Palestinian Authority control), 19 November.

Mamoun Wazwaz APA images

The Jarour family at their Gaza City home on 20 November, which marks International Children’s Day. Four of the family’s seven children have diabetes and it is difficult to provide treatment for them under Gaza’s dire economic conditions.

Abdalhay Alhouseini APA images

Imad Abu Shamsiyeh stands in his yard under a fence protecting his property from attacks by settlers in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of the West Bank city of Hebron, one day after settlers attacked his home during Shabbat Chayei Sarah celebrations, 20 November.

Oren Ziv ActiveStills

The depopulated Palestinian village of Lifta, in Jerusalem, whose residents were expelled in 1948, photographed on 20 November. Before 1948, nearly 3,000 Palestinians lived in the village built on the slope of a steep hill overlooking Wadi Salman.

Oren Ziv ActiveStills

Palestinian demonstrators burn tires and block the road leading to Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus to prevent access by Israeli settlers on 22 November. The shrine, important to Jews, Christians and Muslims, has long been the flashpoint of occupation violence.

Nasser Ishtayeh SOPA Images

Broken medical devices are stored at al-Shifa hospital, the largest health care facility in the Gaza Strip, as Israel continues to prevent the import of replacement devices and parts, 22 November.

Youssef Abu Watfa APA images

An Israeli Border Police officer at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem on 23 November. A 16-year-old was killed in the bombing and a man died from his injuries days later.

Saeed Qaq APA images

Palestinians inspect a burnt car after it was set on fire by settlers from Yitzhar in the village of Burin, near the West Bank city of Nablus, 24 November.

Nasser Ishtayeh SOPA Images

Palestinian protesters argue with the Israeli soldiers during the demonstration against settlements in the village of Beit Dajan near the West Bank city of Nablus, 25 November.

Nasser Ishtayeh SOPA Images

Palestinians confront Israeli occupation soldiers during a protest against land expropriation in the West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum, near the West Bank city of Nablus, on 25 November.

Wajed Nobani APA images

The Israeli military uses excavators to destroy two Palestinian houses in the Jabal Johar area of the West Bank city of Hebron, near the Kiryat Arba Israeli settlement, on 28 November.

Mamoun Wazwaz APA images

Mourners attend the funeral of Jawad and Thafer al-Rimawi, brothers killed by Israeli occupation forces during a raid, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on 29 November.

Wajed Nobani APA images

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