A Timeline of Crises in Palestine

The last year has witnessed the worst violence in the West Bank in two decades. In February 2022, Israel assassinated three Palestinians affiliated with Fatah’s armed groups in Nablus, launching an ongoing military campaign against Palestinian militants and returning to a policy of targeted killing in the West Bank for the first time in years. As hostilities continue to escalate between Palestinians and Israelis, we have created this timeline to track the violence. The timeline starts with the bombing of Gaza in August 2022.

• August 5, 2022: Israel launches air strikes against Gaza, marking the beginning of the worst violence in Gaza since the May 2021 bombardment. The airstrikes kill at least 10 people. The attack followed Israel’s arrest on July 31 of Bassam al-Saadi, an Islamic Jihad leader in Jenin, West Bank. Following the arrest, Israel closed its crossings into Gaza, including the Karem Abu Salem commercial crossing, which blocked the entry of fuel for Gaza’s only power plant.

• August 5-6, 2022: Palestinian militants fire rockets at Israel after air strikes, including some that misfire, adding to the fatalities in Gaza.

• August 6, 2022: Israel carries out attacks against Rafah, killing seven people, including one Islamic Jihad leader.

• August 7, 2022: Islamic Jihad fires rockets from Gaza that reach five kilometers west of Jerusalem, though causing no casualties. The death toll in Gaza reaches 49 and more than 300 Palestinians sustain injuries.

• August 9, 2022: The local head of the Palestinian militant group, the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, is killed in an Israeli operation in the West Bank.

Anera responded to the attack on Gaza in several areas. Psychosocial support summer camps helped children address trauma. For four weeks, food vouchers of $100/week went to families most directly affected by the crisis. We also provided clothing vouchers worth $50-70 per family, depending on the size of the family. With COVID-19 cases on the rise, hygiene kits were also essential to provide for families affected by the crisis. Finally, Anera coordinated with the UN Shelter group to identify homes in need of repair and provided rehabilitation.

• September 25-27, 2022: Israeli authorities shut down the border crossing between Gaza and southern Israel, preventing 17,000 Palestinians from going to their jobs.

• September 28, 2022: Israeli forces in Jenin kill four Palestinians and injure 44 during a raid.

• September 29, 2022: Israeli soldiers invade a Palestinian middle school in Hebron, attacking teachers and children and spraying their faces with pepper spray. One father is assaulted and requires hospitalization for injuries.

• September 29, 2022: A seven-year-old boy dies from a heart attack after Israeli soldiers accuse him and his brother of throwing stones at them and chase him to his home.

• September 30, 2022: Israeli soldiers abduct six Palestinians in Hebron and shoot two young men and abduct a teenage boy north of Ramallah.

• October 1, 2022: An 18-year-old boy is shot dead in East Jerusalem, making the death toll of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem reach at least 100 this year.

• October 2, 2022: Two Palestinian Red Crescent Society medics, part of emergency medical teams, are assaulted.

• October 5, 2022: Israeli soldiers block the entrances of the central warehouses of the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

• October 24, 2022: Israeli forces blow up explosives in a laboratory and exchange gunfire with Palestinians in Nablus, West Bank.

• October 25, 2022: Six Palestinians are killed in a major Israeli raid against a militant group in Nablus.

• November 15, 2022: An 18-year-old Palestinian stabbed two Israelis to death and ran over a third with a vehicle near Ariel in the West Bank.

• November 28, 2022: Israeli forces demolish two Palestinian-owned houses in Hebron and order the demolition of an elementary school in south Hebron.

• November 29, 2022: In separate incidents across the West Bank, Israeli soldiers shoot seven Palestinians with live fire, killing three, and injuring others with tear gas, concussion grenades, and pepper spray.

• November 30, 2022: Five Palestinian men are killed by Israeli forces in four separate incidents in the West Bank. Four are shot in clashes and one is shot after ramming his car into a soldier.

• November 30, 2022: Israeli soldiers arrest and hold without charge ten Palestinians in Ramallah, West Bank.

• December 11, 2022: Israeli forces kill a 16-year-old Palestinian girl amid a gun battle with militants in Jenin.

• December 25-26, 2022: Israeli forces open ducts in dams east of Deir Al Balah, Gaza, which leads – amid heavy rains – to flooding in Gaza.

In response to the flooding in Gaza, Anera, with the help of IRUSA, expanded a stormwater network in Al Fukhari, constructing a stormwater pipeline and separating it from the wastewater networks near Shejaiya schools. Anera also rehabilitated 20 homes vulnerable to flooding in the south and middle of Gaza. About 55,100 Gazans benefited from Anera’s winter flooding mitigation interventions.

• January 5, 2023: The longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, convicted of kidnapping and murdering an Israeli soldier, was released after 40 years in jail.

• January 19, 2023: Israeli forces shoot and kill a 57-year-old Palestinian teacher who was giving first aid to a fatally wounded resistance fighter in Jenin.

• January 26, 2023: Ten Palestinians are killed in an Israeli raid in Jenin, West Bank. Some 20 more Palestinians are seriously injured. Bulldozers destroy a number of cars and damage buildings and infrastructure. Several apartments are also destroyed. During the raid, Israeli forces fire tear gas near the Jenin Hospital, necessitating the evacuation of patients. The raid prompts Palestinian demonstrations across the West Bank and leads Palestinian leaders to announce an end to security coordination with Israel.

• January 27, 2023: Gazans fire several rockets toward southern Israel.

• January 27, 2023: Israeli forces bomb Gaza in response to rocket fire.

• January 28, 2023: Seven Israelis are killed by a Palestinian gunman in East Jerusalem.

• January 28, 2023: A 13-year-old Palestinian boy shoots and injures two Israeli men in East Jerusalem.

• January 29, 2023: Israel’s security cabinet has approved measures to make it easier for Israelis to carry guns.

• February 6, 2023: Five Palestinians are killed in the Aqabet Jabr refugee camp near Jericho. The camp had been under siege for a week prior to the raid.

• February 10, 2023: Two Israelis are killed in a car-ramming attack in East Jerusalem.

• February 20, 2023: Israel declares a temporary pause on settlement building.

• February 22, 2023: 11 Palestinians are killed and over 100 people injured in a raid in Nablus.

• February 22, 2023: Six rockets are fired out of Gaza into southern Israel in revenge for the Nablus incursion.

• February 23, 2023: Israeli forces shoot in the head a young Palestinian police officer, who was also an undergraduate student, at the Arroub refugee camp. He succumbs to his wounds by the next day.

• February 24, 2023: Israeli troops kill at least 11 Palestinians and wounded dozens more during a raid in Nablus.

• February 26, 2023: Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Jordan, pledging to de-escalate surging violence.

• February 26, 2023: Two Israeli settlers are killed in Hawara (near Nablus), West Bank by a Palestinian gunman.

• February 26, 2023: A Palestinian is killed and hundreds of others are injured as scores of homes are set on fire in Hawara by Israeli settlers.

In response to the recent escalations in the Palestinian territories, Anera is prepared to provide food and hygiene vouchers to communities affected by the violence and other disruptions. Anera’s medical donations team will coordinate with local partners, including hospitals and clinics, to determine specific needs and provide medicines and healthcare supplies for emergency medical services.

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