Palestinian Human Rights Update – May 2023

Khader Adnan, died in an Israeli prison on May 2 after from a hunger strike lasting almost 3 months. As of April 2023, there were 4,900 Palestinians (including 160 children) held in Israeli prisons and over 1,000 of these – including Adnan – are held in administration detention without charges or trials. Palestinians regard these people as political prisoners fighting to end Israel’s illegal occupation. (1)

The details of the May 9-14 escalation of hostilities in Gaza and Israel are available in United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Flash Updates. The UN verified the killing of 33 Palestinians including 12 civilians (4 girls, 2 boys, 4 women and 2 men). One additional killing was unverified at the time of the report. 190 Palestinians were injured (including 64 children and 38 women. At least three of the fatalities were due to rockets falling short.

A total of 2,943 housing units were damaged and 1,244 Palestinians were internally displaced. At least 26 schools were damaged and Al Aqsa hospital and the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza sustained, and two primary health care clinics in Khan Youris and northern Gaza sustained partial damage. One Israeli woman and Palestinian worker from Gaza were killed and at least 40 injuries due to rocket fire were reported in Israel. 2 The security of all people in Palestine and Israel depends on finding a just and durable peace by ending Israeli’s illegal occupation and insuring equal rights for everyone.

In the West Bank OCHA oPt Protection of Civilians Report, May 19, 2023. From May 2-12, 2023, Israeli carried out 3 operations in the West Bank (in Nablus and the Tulkarm and Balata refugee camps) that killed 7 Palestinians and injured 236 others. In three additional operations, Israeli forces killed another four Palestinians (3 in Jenin, 1 Tulkarm). Since the beginning of 2023 until the 15 May, Israeli forces killed 108 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, more than double the death toll of 51 in the same period in 2022. Two Palestinians (a man and a woman) were killed in separate incidents at Israeli military checkpoints. A total of 688 Palestinians, including at least 72 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank. (3)

What we can do. The US Campaign for Palestinian Human Rights has a campaign to end U.S. military assistance to Israel. We can learn about this campaign on their website and can call on our members of congress to stop funding these atrocities by sending this a message here.

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