2010 Israel–Gaza conflict

 February, at 1:00 am Palestine time, Israeli occupying forces raided the Ramallah office of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlement Construction, ransacking the Committee’s office and confiscating its equipment, archives and property.

22 February, Israeli Prime Minisiter Netanyahu aounced Israel was adding religious sites of historical and religious significance in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to its so-called list of national heritage sites,  the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil ( Hebron) and the site of Bilal’s Mosque in Bethlehem (Rachel’s Tomb) along with the Walls of the Old City of  Jerusalem.

26 February, a new project to build 600 settlement units on illegally confiscated Palestinian land near the neighborhood of Shu’fat. Moreover, dozens more home demolition notifications have been served to Palestinian families living in Al-Bustan and the Al-Abbassia areas in the neighborhood of Silwan, and plans have also been revealed for the seizure of Palestinian land in Sheikh Jarrah to build a “car park” for illegal settlers.

5 March, Following the Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli occupying forces stormed the compound, firing tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades at Palestinian men, women and youth that had been worshipping there. 

10 March, On the eve of US Vice President Biden’s visit to the region, the Israeli govement aounced the approval for construction of 1600 new settlement units in the illegal settlement of “Ramat Shlomo” in Occupied East Jerusalem, constituting one of the largest construction projects of illegal settlements in Jerusalem in recent years. 

18 March, Israeli occupation authorities approved the construction of 20 new settlement units in Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian neighborhood in Occupied East Jerusalem.

20 March, 1,000 days since the begiing of the Israeli blockade against Gaza , the socio-economic situation of the Palestinian civilian population remains dire, with the blockade adversely impacting the viability of all aspects of life.  Economic, health, education and other societal indicators reveal the magnitude of the humanitarian suffering that has been deliberately inflicted by the occupying Power on the Palestinian civilian population in what definitely constitutes collective punishment on a scale of a war crime.

20 March, the occupying forces shot at civilians in the village of Iraq Buren who were participating in a demonstration against ongoing Israeli colonization measures, rampant Israeli settler violence and harassment, and imposed restrictions on access by Palestinian civilians to their farmlands in the area.  Two Palestinian boys were shot by the occupying forces, receiving wounds to the head and chest.  Both victims, ages 16 and 17, Mohammad Qadous and Osayed Qadous, died of their wounds.  This was followed by the Israeli killing of another two Palestinian youths, Mohammad Faisal Qawariq and Salah Mohammad Qawariq, both age 19 and cousins, in the village of A’wrta on 21 March.

28 March, scores of peace activists were joined by Christian community leaders and political officials in a protest march against illegal Israeli restrictions imposed on Palestinian Christians that are once again obstructing their access to their Holy Places in Occupied East Jerusalem this Easter holiday.

12 April, a new Israeli military order was revealed which would give the occupying forces unprecedented power to detain, imprison, and deport Palestinians in the West Bank that are deemed to be ‘infiltrating’ the Occupied Territory. This order (so-called military order “1650”) threatens the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians by the occupying Power from the West Bank under the pretext that they are ‘residing illegally’ in the Occupied Territory . 

4 May, armed Israeli settlers entered a Palestinian village, Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiyya in the Occupied West Bank, which is surrounded by three illegal settlements of ‘Eli”, “Shilo” and Ma’ale Levona.”   After entering the village, Israeli settlers broke into the only mosque in the village, setting it ablaze, destroying the building along with prayer rugs and a collection of Holy Qurans that had been deliberately arranged in two piles before being bued in the fire.  As stated by President Mahmoud Abbas, this criminal act of setting a holy mosque ablaze “represents a threat to the efforts to revive the peace process.”

31 May, Israeli commandos attacked the Freedom Flotilla and killed nine civilian peace activists and wounded many others in this vicious, premeditated attack, which was launched against the ships in an area 72 nautical miles from the coast of the Gaza Strip.  This illegal and deplorable Israeli military operation constitutes an explicitly act of piracy under   the   United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and must be unequivocally condemned by the inteational community, including the Security Council.

1 June, Israeli warplanes and tanks invaded several areas within Gaza , resulting in the killing of five Palestinians. These latest Israeli military attacks signal an Israeli intention to reignite the cycle of violence and cause further suffering in an already devastated society, living a humanitarian disaster because of the punitive, inhumane siege that Israel , the occupying Power, has imposed on the Palestinian population in Gaza for more than 3 years.

1 July, Israeli Minister of Defense renewed an illegal order baing the head of the Islamic Higher Council in Jerusalem , Dr. Ekrima Sabri, from entering Al-Aqsa Compound for an additional six months. This unjustified decision comes while Israeli authorities are intensifying their campaign against notable Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and as rights organizations reveal that Israeli govement institutions, including the Ministry of Interior, are intensifying their efforts to renew home demolitions in the Occupied City on a massive scale.

13 July, several Palestinian families are searching for shelter this night after the Israeli occupying authorities demolished their homes in Occupied East Jerusalem.  This has included the demolition of the home of Inam Al-Tawil in Al-Shayah neighborhood near Al-Sawahreh in Occupied East Jerusalem, a home that was built in 1996 and had never been fined. This illegal demolition of this home was carried out without waing or justification and, now, the 14 people, including 7 children, who had resided there, are homeless and risk being completely displaced from the City as Israel pushes ahead with its attempts to cleanse the city of its indigenous Palestinian population.

18 July, a young Palestinian boy, Abdullah Al-Mohtasib, age 11, was hit by a settler on a speeding motorcycle in the Old City of Al-Khalil ( Hebron ).

21 July, settlers stole sheep from a young Palestinian shepherd in the village of Tuba south of Al-Khalil (Hebron).

22 July, settlers set fire to olive trees in the Saffa village near Ramallah, buing more than 7 square kilometers of land and trees.  When villagers and firefighters tried to put out the infeo, the Israeli occupying forces refused to allow them to access the land.

26 July, settlers stoned Palestinians near the West Bank city of Nablus and set fire to olive trees in an orchard in the Burin village.

29 July, settlers stormed a building Old City of East Jerusalem and evicted three Palestinian families from their homes, resulting in the displacement and homelessness of fifty people, including children.

30 July, settlers caused damage to a vegetable field in Um Al-Khair village in southe Al-Khalil ( Hebron), slashed water pipes and destroyed fencing.  The damaged field was the primary food and economic resource for the Bedouin families living there.

30 July, settlers attacked the Burin village, setting fire to land and trees and breaking into a home which was under construction and tried demolish it.

6 August, settlers set fire to hundreds of dunums of farmland in the northe West Bank village of Beit Furik .  That same day, settlers n the Al-Buwayra area east of Al-Khalil ( Hebron ) attacked and assaulted a Palestinian woman, Suzan Sultan, age 51, causing multiple injuries to her head and body for which she required medical treatment.  In addition, settlers attacked two inteational peace activists from Canada and Denmark who had been in Al-Buwayra, beating them with metal poles and wooden sticks and stealing their passports and cameras.

8 August, settlers attacked a Palestinian bus in an area near an illegal settlement south of Nablus , shattering the windows of the bus.

15 August, settlers in Al-Khalil ( Hebron) attacked and beat a 10-year old Palestinian girl, Inas Mazen Qaaqour, who had to be hospitalized for treatment of her wounds.  On that same day, an Israeli military jeep struck an 8-year old Palestinian boy also in Al-Khalil.