In Occupied Palestine

Zionism in practice

Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Land

08:00, on 17 January until 08:00, 18 January 2024

[Source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group]

Gaza Strip

Armed Palestinian Resistance: Palestinian Resistance continued launching dozens of missiles towards the Green Line.

Air strikes: Heavy aerial bombardment on buildings, homes and many facilities.

Attacks: All over Gaza there are air strikes, heavy gunfire, tank and artillery shelling, as well as missiles fired from Israeli forces and military occupation, especially in Khan Yunis. The Israeli Navycontinues to fire missiles, targeting facilities and buildings along the shoreline of the whole of Gaza.

Victims:

172 people killed in Gaza brings the total number of deaths since 7 October to at least 24,620. With another 326 wounded, that has risen to 61,830. Fully accurate statistics are not available due to insecurity menacing hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

OCHA Flash Update #96

On 17 January, the UN Secretary-General repeated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

As of 18 January, telecommunication services in Gaza have remained shut down for the sixth consecutive day, since 12 January. In light of this, new information is limited in this Flash Update. This is the seventh time that communications have stopped working since 7 October. The blackout of telecommunications prevents people in Gaza from accessing lifesaving information or calling for first responders and impedes other forms of humanitarian response.

The availability of water for drinking and domestic use in Gaza is shrinking each day. At present, only one of the three Israeli lines is functional, yielding less than half (22,000 cubic metres a day) of what would have been available if all lines were working (For more information see Water, Sanitation and Hygiene section).

On 18 January, the non-governmental organization Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) reported that: “This morning, at around 6am, the compound in Gaza housing staff members of the Emergency Medical Team from MAP and the International Rescue Team (IRC) was severely damaged as a result of a missile strike. A number of team members & the compound’s security guard suffered non-life-threatening injuries.” The team had been providing surgery and other medical treatment supporting the overstretched medical staff in Nasser hospital. Following the strike, they have been evacuated and can no longer continue working at the hospital. This reported attack and subsequent move of staff further compromise the already frail capacity in the over-congested hospital.

As of 18 January, the MoH in Gaza stated that over 8,000 cases of viral Hepatitis A resulting from overcrowding in shelters had been recorded. The number of hepatitis cases is expected to double in overcrowded shelters. Additionally, due to the lack of access to hospitals, 60,000 pregnant women are at risk of not receiving adequate care in case of complications. Hundreds of cases of miscarriages and premature births have been reported since the outbreak of hostilities.

Hostilities and casualties (Gaza Strip)

The communications shutdown has limited the full reporting of incidents. However, the following are among the deadliest incidents reported on 17 January:

On 17 January, at about 15:30, three Palestinian IDPs, including one child, were reportedly killed when a group was struck west of Rafah.

On 17 January, at about 23:00, 19 Palestinians, including at least eight children and six women, were reportedly killed when a house was struck near the Al Bahabsa Mosque area, in Al Geneina neighbourhood, east of Rafah.

On 17 January, Israeli forces detonated explosives and destroyed the Israa University in Madinat Az Zahraa, south Gaza city. Reportedly, for the past 70 days, the building had been used by the Israeli military as a military base and an ad hoc detention facility for interrogating Palestinian detainees before their transfer to an unknown location.

Displacement (Gaza Strip)

As of 18 January, according to UNRWA, 1.7 million people were estimated to be internally displaced. Many of them have been displaced multiple times, as families have been forced to move repeatedly in search of safety. The ability of UNRWA to provide humanitarian support and updated data on the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) has been severely restricted. Due to the continued escalation of fighting and evacuation orders, some households have moved away from the shelters where they were initially registered. These resulted in multiple registration of the same IDPs in multiple shelters. UNRWA plans to conduct a more accurate count of IDPs in shelters, including informal shelters as soon as the security situation allows.

Rafah governorate is the main refuge for those displaced, with over one million people squeezed into an extremely overcrowded space, following the intensification of hostilities in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and the Israeli military’s evacuation orders. Obtaining an accurate figure of the total number of IDPs remains challenging.

Health care, including attacks (Gaza Strip)

According to WHO, only 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functional, albeit partially: nine in the south and six in the north. In Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, three hospitals – Al Aqsa, Nasser, and Gaza European – are at risk of closure due to the issuance of evacuation orders in adjacent areas and the ongoing conduct of hostilities nearby. Hospitals in the north have been offering limited maternity, trauma, and emergency care services. However, they face challenges such as a shortage of medical staff, including specialized surgeons, neurosurgeons, and intensive care staff, as well as a lack of medical supplies, and have an urgent need for fuel, food, and drinking water. The nine partially functional hospitals in the south are operating at three times their capacity, while facing critical shortages of basic supplies and fuel. According to the MoH in Gaza, occupancy rates are reaching 206 per cent in inpatient departments and 250 per cent in intensive care units.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

The availability of water in Gaza is shrinking each day. According to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) humanitarian partners, water availability through the municipal wells is presently at a tenth (21,200 cubic metres a day) of its production capacity prior to the escalation of hostilities (255,000 cubic metres a day). Water from these wells is known to be substandard given it is brackish (salty) water and whereas water from the Israeli-operated lines yielded the most optimal safe drinking water prior to the hostilities. At present, only one of the three Israeli lines – the Bani Said point – is functional, yielding less than half (22,000 cubic metres a day) of what would have been available if all lines were working.

Furthermore, water availability through the short-term desalination plants presently stands at seven per cent (1,600 cubic metres per day) of the pre-crisis capacity (22,000 cubic metres per day). Due to import restrictions on critical items, water testing kits and chlorine to treat the water across Gaza are presently unavailable. Furthermore, the amalgamation of solid waste and fecal waste, exacerbated by rains and floods, is giving rise to severe health and environmental threats. With WHO already reporting 152,000 cases of diarrhoea, the inability to do water chlorination to kill bacteria is aggravating the already concerning situation. At present, Health and WASH partners have developed an Acute Watery Diarrhoea preparedness and response plan. Barriers to the import of critical items must be resolved to enable adequate response.

Humanitarian Access

The denials of humanitarian missions’ access to areas north of Wadi Gaza over the first half of January spiked compared with the previous months; in October and December 2023, only 14 per cent (6 out of 43) of missions planned to the north were denied, while the remaining 86 per cent (37 out of 43 missions) were facilitated. These denials prevent a scale-up in humanitarian assistance and add significant cost to the overall response. Additionally, planned missions that are denied access to areas north of Wadi Gaza represent opportunities missed for alternative missions that could be undertaken to other areas of the Gaza Strip. The capacity of humanitarian agencies to operate safely and effectively also remains heavily compromised by the long-term restrictions applied by the Israeli authorities on the import of critical humanitarian equipment into Gaza.

Violence and casualties (West Bank)

Since 7 October 2023 and as of 18 January 2024, 357 Palestinians have been killed, including 90 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Additionally, two Palestinians from the West Bank were killed while carrying out an attack in Israel on 30 November. Of the fatalities in the West Bank (357), 348 were killed by Israeli forces, eight by Israeli settlers and one by either Israeli forces or settlers. So far in 2024 (as of 18 January), 48 Palestinians, including nine children, have been killed. The number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2023 (507) marks the highest number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since OCHA started recording casualties in 2005.

Since 7 October 2023 and as of 18 January 2024, five Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In addition, four Israelis were killed in an attack carried out by Palestinians from the West Bank in West Jerusalem (one of the four was killed by Israeli forces who misidentified him) on 30 November 2023. Another Israeli woman was killed in another attack perpetrated by Palestinians in Israel on 15 January 2024. The number of Israelis killed in the West Bank and Israel in 2023 in attacks perpetrated by Palestinians from the West Bank (36) was the highest since OCHA started recording casualties in 2005.

Since 7 October 2023 and as of 18 January 2024, 4,252 Palestinians, including 645 children, have been injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Of them, 4,121 have been injured by Israeli forces, 110 by settlers and 21 by either Israeli forces or settlers. Of the total injuries, 53 per cent were reported in the context of search-and-arrest and other operations, 35 per cent in demonstrations and 8 per cent during settler attacks against Palestinians. Some 33 per cent of those injuries have been caused by live ammunition, compared with 9 per cent in the first nine months of 2023.

Settler Violence

Since 7 October 2023 and as of 18 January 2024, OCHA recorded 433 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians, resulting in Palestinian casualties (42 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (338 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (53 incidents). This reflects a daily average of four incidents since 7 October 2023 until 17 January 2024.

One-third of the settler attacks against Palestinians after 7 October 2023 have involved firearms, including shootings and threats of shootings. In nearly half of all recorded incidents after 7 October, Israeli forces were either accompanying or reported to be supporting the attackers.

In 2023, 1,229 incidents involving Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (with or without Israeli forces), resulted in Palestinian casualties, property damage or both. Some 913 of these incidents resulted in damage, 163 resulted in casualties and 153 resulted in both. This is the highest number of settler attacks against Palestinians in any given year since OCHA started recording incidents involving settlers in 2006.

Displacement (West Bank)

Since 7 October 2023 and as of 18 January 2024, at least 198 Palestinian households comprising 1,208 people, including 586 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. The displaced households are from at least 15 herding/Bedouin communities. More than half of the displacements occurred on 12, 15, and 28 October, affecting seven communities. The displacement toll since 7 October 2023, represents 78 per cent of all displacement reported due to settler violence and access restrictions since 1 January 2023 (1,539 people, including 756 children).

Since 7 October 2023 and as of 18 January 2024, 478 Palestinians, including 239 children, have been displaced, following the demolition of their homes, due to lack of Israeli-issued building permits in Area C and East Jerusalem, which are almost impossible to obtain.

A total of 19 homes have been demolished and 95 Palestinians, including 42 children, displaced due to punitive demolitions from 7 October 2023 and as of 18 January 2024. The numbers exceed those reported in the first nine months of the same year, during which 16 homes were punitively demolished and 78 people displaced.

Since 7 October 2023 and as of 17 January 2024, 602 Palestinians, including 263 children, have been displaced, following the destruction of 94 homes during other operations carried out by Israeli forces across the West Bank. About 94 per cent of the displacement was reported in the refugee camps of Jenin, and in Nur Shams and Tulkarm, both in Tulkarm. This represents 65 per cent of all displacement reported due to the destruction of homes during Israeli military operations since January 2023 (908 people).

West Bank

[Palestinian Monitoring Group]

Israeli Army attack – 9 wounded: Ramallah – 01:45, Israeli forces stormed Ramallah, al-Bireh and the al-Amari refugee camp, wounding nine people: 16–year–old Muhammad Mahmoud Youssef Al-Qatari, Wajih Ibrahim, Wajih Musleh, Moamen Samir Jumaa Al-Toukhi, Muhammad Khalil Al-Shamali, Mujahid Zuhair Muhammad Hammad, Issa Iyad Muhammad Al-Mimi, Hassan Yahya Jumah Al-Toukhi, Rami Nidal Abdel Muti Al-Jaabari, Munther Yahya Daoud Nairat.

Israeli Army attacks: Tulkarem – since 04:50 on 17 January, Israeli Occupation forces have been raiding Tulkarem as well as the Nour Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps, invading homes, besieging the Thabet Thabet and Al-Israa Hospitals, searching ambulances and preventing them from moving. A drone-launched air strike killed four people, in addition to two other slain residents. Seven people, including three paramedics, have been wounded. Israeli forces have taken prisoner 27 people, including five paramedics. The six people killed are: 17-year-old Ahmed Musa Mutlaq Badawi, Walid Ibrahim Muhammad Ghanem, 18-year-old, Ahmed Tariq Noman Faraj, Ahmed Moin Dhib Mahdawi, Muhammad Mutee’ Mahmoud Salit and Ashraf Ahmed Yassin Yassin.

Israeli settler attack – agricultural sabotage: Nablus – 14:30, armed Israeli Occupation settlers opened fire on working farmers, west of Tal village.

Home invasions and occupation: Ramallah – 01:45–07:30, raiding Israeli Occupation forces wounded nine residents while invading homes in Ramallah, al-Bireh and the al-Amari refugee camp.

Home invasion and occupation: Hebron – 08:10, Israeli settlers raided the Makhamra family’s cave-dwelling, south-east of Yatta, destroying their possessions and stealing ten sheep.

Israeli police and settlers’ mosque violation: Jerusalem – 08:00, settler militants, escorted by Israeli police, invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and molested worshippers.

Israeli Army population–control: Ramallah – 18:50, Israeli Occupation forces took prisoner one person, Mahmoud Ahmed MisbahQadah, when he reported, as ordered, for interrogation at Israeli Military Intelligence.

Israeli Army population–control – pastoral sabotage: Tubas – 11:25, Israeli forces took prisoner a working shepherd, Azzam Abd Rabbo Bani Odeh, in the al-Sakoot area of the North Jordan Valley.

Israeli Army agricultural sabotage: Qalqiliya – Occupation forces, in Jayus, demolished a greenhouse.

Occupation settler vandalism: Nablus – 11:50, Israeli Occupation settlers bulldozed and excavated Einabus village land.

Occupation settler violence, injury and pastoral sabotage: Salfit – 17:25, Israeli settlers assaulted and injured a farmworker, Haitham Imad Bakr, as he grazed cows on land between Salfit andBurqin.

Occupation settler land-grab and agricultural sabotage: Hebron – 10:55, Israelis, from the Shamaa Occupation settlement, south-east of al-Dhahiriya, seized and began ploughing a nearby area of land.

Occupation settler violence, injury and pastoral sabotage: Hebron – 14:20, Israeli settlers assaulted and injured a shepherd, Issa Mahmoud al-Jabareen, as he was trying to herd a flock on pastoral land, east of Yatta.

Raid: Jerusalem – 02:00, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled Kafr Aqab.

Raids: Jerusalem – 02:35, Israeli forces raided and patrolled al-Eizariya and Abu Dis.

Raid: Jerusalem – 05:00, the Israeli Army raided Beit Anan and searched the Saba Printing Press.

Raid – terrorism – population–control: Jerusalem – 05:00, Israeli troops raided the village of Qatana and took prisoner a woman, Amina Tabanga, in order to pressure her two sons to surrender themselves to Occupation forces.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Jerusalem – 05:30, the Israeli military raided Beit Surik, taking prisoner one person.

Raid: Ramallah – 20:45–04:00, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the village of Ein Yabroud.

Raid – in refugee camp: Ramallah – 22:30, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the Jalazoun refugee camp.

Raids – 2 taken prisoner: Ramallah – 01:50–03:30, Israeli forces raided Beit Rima and Deir Ghassaneh, taking prisoner two people.

Raid: Jenin – 19:25, the Israeli Army raided the village of Arranah.

Raid – 2 taken prisoner: Jenin – 19:25, Israeli troops raided al-Jalama, taking prisoner two people.

Raid: Qalqiliya – 11:40-15:20, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the village of Falamya.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Qalqiliya – 03:30–06:30, Israeli soldiers raided the city, taking prisoner one person.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Qalqiliya – 04:10, Israeli Occupation forces raided Hablat, taking prisoner one person.

Raids – 3 taken prisoner: Tulkarem – dawn, Israeli forces raided Anabta and Bal’a as well as the village of Pharaoh, taking prisoner three people.

Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired: Nablus – 10:25, the Israeli Army, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided and patrolled Qabalan.

Raid: Nablus – 12:30, Israeli troops raided and patrolled Tal village.

Raid: Nablus – 14:10, the Israeli military raided and patrolled Beita.

Raids: Nablus – 21:20–00:55, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled Beit Iba as well as the villages of Zawata and Deir Sharaf.

Raid: Nablus – 23:10–01:05, Israeli forces raided and patrolled Qusra.

Raid: Nablus – 23:40–00:40, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled Salem village.

Raid: Nablus – 00:50, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the village of Burqa.

Raids: Nablus – 00:50, the Israeli military raided and patrolled Aqraba and Beita.

Raid – 4 taken prisoner: Nablus – 02:00–03:35, Israeli soldiers raided the city, taking prisoner four people.

Raids: Salfit – 10:00-15:20, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the villages of Iskaka and Yasuf.

Raid: Salfit – 20:05, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the village of Haris.

Raid: Salfit – 21:00, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled Deir Ballut.

Raid: Salfit – 21:30–23:50, Israeli troops raided and patrolled Salfit.

Raid: Salfit – 21:50, the Israeli military raided and patrolled Kifl Haris.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Salfit – midnight, Israeli soldiers raided Kafr al-Dik, taking prisoner one person.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner – refugee camp: Bethlehem – dawn, Israeli Occupation forces raided the Dheisheh refugee camp, taking prisoner one person.

Raids – refugee camps: Bethlehem – 01:50–04:30, Israeli forces raided the city, the al-Azza, Aida and Dheisheh refugee camps, as well as Doha and al-Khadr.

Raid – 18 taken prisoner: Bethlehem – 01:50–04:30, the Israeli Army raided Janata, taking prisoner 18 people.

Raid: Hebron – 08:05-17:40, Israeli troops raided and patrolled al-Dhahiriya.

Raid –– rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired – 1 wounded: Hebron – evening–07:00, the Israeli Army, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided and patrolled Bani Naim, injuring a resident.

Raid – 5 taken prisoner: Hebron – 01:30, Israeli troops raided the city, taking prisoner five people.

Raid – 9 taken prisoner – refugee camp: Hebron – 04:00, the Israeli military raided the al-Aroub refugee camp, taking prisoner nine people.

Raid: Hebron – 04:10–07:00, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled Dura.

Raid – 3 taken prisoner: Hebron – 05:20, Israeli Occupation forces raided Tafuh, taking prisoner three people.

Raid – 6 taken prisoner: Hebron – dawn, Israeli forces raided Idhna, taking prisoner six people.