Palestine In Pictures: May 2019

During the month of May another thirty Palestinians were murdered by the Jews in the context of the Jewish Israel regime’s military occupation of the world's largest concentration camps the West Bank concentration camp and Gaza concentration camp

Palestinians celebrate the beginning of Ramadan in the West Bank city of Nablus on 5 May. Shadi Jarar’ah APA images
The Electronic Intifada: Two of those killings took place in the West Bank on the last day of the month.
Yusif Wajih Suheil, 18, was shot and killed by Israeli police in the Old City of Jerusalem after stabbing two persons, critically injuring a 50-year-old man.
Security camera footage released by Israeli police appears to show Suheil lunging at a man on a bicycle who is wearing Orthodox Jewish dress, then chasing after another man.
The edited compilation of footage also shows police firing at Suheil and him falling to the ground as he poses no apparent immediate life-threatening danger to others, suggesting that no attempt was made to detain Suheil or use non-lethal means to subdue him.
At least seven Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by occupation forces during the course of attacks or alleged attacks against Israelis so far this year.
Also on 31 May, Israeli forces shot in the chest and killed Abdullah Luay Ghaith as he and a group of youths attempted to bypass a military checkpoint near Bethlehem as they made their way to Jerusalem on the final Friday of Ramadan. Palestinian outlets said that Ghaith was 16 years old.
Muamin Tabish, 21, was shot in the stomach and severely injured during the same incident. His condition was reported to have stabilized.

28 killed in Gaza

The remaining 28 Palestinian fatalities during the month of May all occurred in the Gaza Strip.
Twenty-five Palestinians in the territory, 14 of them civilians who died by Israeli fire, were killed during more than 48 hours of intense violence that also claimed the lives of four civilians in Israel from 4 to 6 May.
Two Palestinian children were amongst those killed in Israeli strikes on the beseiged territory.
Toddler Saba Abu Arar and her pregnant aunt Filastin Abu Shihma were killed in an explosion in a home in Gaza City that Defense for Children International Palestine said was caused by a rocket fired by Palestinian groups that fell short of Israel.
Other human rights groups are still investigating the incident.
During the two days of escalation Israel struck Gaza in more than 150 airstrikes, and fired more than 100 artillery shells along the eastern boundary of the territory. Palestinian fighters in Gaza fired nearly 700 rockets towards Israel, news outlets in the country reported.
Three other Palestinians were shot and killed during Great March of Return protests along Gaza’s eastern boundary with Israel during May. More than 200 Palestinians, including 44 children, have been killed during the protests since their launch in March last year.
Seventy Palestinians have died by Israeli fire in 2019. In addition to the four civilians killed by rocket fire in Israel this month, three Israelis have been killed by Palestinians during the same period, though Palestinian factions have repudiated Israel’s claims of a nationalist motive for an Israeli woman’s killing by a Palestinian man in February.
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were prevented from freely accessing holy sites in Jerusalem during Ramadan, which began in early May.
Only Palestinian men in the West Bank above the age of 40, as well as boys under 16, and women and girls of all ages were allowed into East Jerusalem for Friday prayers without permits, according to OCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Jerusalem demolitions, settler attacks spike

In early May, UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick called on Israel to halt the demolition of Palestinian properties in East Jerusalem, which he said “have increased at a staggering pace over the last month.”
Also during the month, OCHA noted an increase in settler attacks on Palestinians and properties in 2019. Since the beginning of the year, “the biweekly average of settler attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties or property damage has witnessed a 40 and 133 percent increase, compared to the biweekly average of 2018 and 2017,” OCHA stated.
Meanwhile UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, warned that it may not be able to provide food aid, on which half of Gaza’s population depends, as it made yet another emergency appeal for funds.
UNRWA condemned the killing of 10 civilians by rocket fire in Neirab, a camp for Palestine refugees in the Syrian city of Aleppo, as families gathered for the meal breaking the Ramadan fast.
“Among those killed were four children, the youngest just six years old,” the agency stated, without naming those responsible.
Fighting around the camp forced UNRWA to suspend its six schools in the camp, “impacting more than 3,000 children.”
“The dramatic escalation in hostilities in northwestern Syria leaves UNRWA concerned for an estimated 10,000-20,000 Palestine refugees who are displaced in that area,” the agency added.

Palestinian laborers who work in Israel wait to cross a military checkpoint near the West Bank town of Qalqilya on 1 May, International Workers Day. Tens of thousands of Palestinian workers are forced to seek a living by working in often exploitative situations in Israel due to widespread unemployment resulting from severe Israeli restrictions on the freedoms of Palestinians living under occupation.
Shadi Jarar’ah

Palestinian civil defense workers extinguish a fire to a car belonging to Hamed Ahmad Abed al-Khoudari in Gaza City on 5 May. Al-Khoudari, who Israel accused of transferring money to Gaza from Iran, was extrajudicially killed while in his car — the first such assassination by Israel in four years.
Ashraf Amra APA images

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on 5 May.
Ibrahim Khalaf APA images

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Saba Abu Arar during her funeral in Gaza City on 5 May. The toddler and her pregnant aunt, Filastin Abu Shihma, were killed in an explosion in a Gaza City home during fighting between Israel and armed groups in Gaza the previous day. After investigating the incident, Defense for Children International Palestine concluded that the explosion was caused by a weapon fired within Gaza. Other organizations are continuing their inquiries about the incident.
Ashraf Amra APA images

The remains of a home following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, 6 May. A ceasefire was declared by Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza earlier that day, halting intense violence that claimed 25 Palestinian lives and four civilians in Israel in just over 48 hours.
Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians pray over the bodies of six Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes during their funeral at a mosque in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, on 6 May.
Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians shop at Gaza City’s al-Zawiya market at the beginning of Ramadan on 6 May.
Mahmoud Ajjour APA images

Relatives of Abdallah Abd al-Al, 24, shot and killed by occupation forces along the Israel-Gaza boundary the previous day, mourn during his funeral in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on 11 May.
Ashraf Amra APA images

Ahmad Dawabshe, 9, who was badly injured in a 2015 arson attack on his home that killed his baby brother Ali and his parents, sleeps at his grandfather house in Duma village near the West Bank city of Nablus on 13 May. Two days earlier, an Israeli court acquitted a settler who was arrested but not indicted in relation to the Dawabshe family murders of charges over a fire set to a Jerusalem church.
Ayat Arqawy APA images

Palestinian children attend a concert calling for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest hosted by Israel on 14 May. Held in Gaza City, the protest concert was performed on the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike earlier in the month.
Mohammed Zaanoun APA images

Thousands of Palestinians mark Nakba Day, the annual commemoration of the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine, along Gaza’s eastern boundary with Israel on 15 May. Seventy years ago, Palestinians fled or were forced by Zionist militias to flee Palestine to make room for the creation of the state of Israel and ensure a Jewish majority. Some 750,000 Palestinians ended up as refugees registered with the United Nations. Many others fended for themselves. They were never allowed to return to their lands or homes which were confiscated by the nascent state, and many of their villages were subsequently destroyed.
Mohammed Zaanoun ActiveStills

Palestinian worshipers attend Friday prayers at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound during Ramadan, 17 May.
Ayat Arqawy APA images

Palestinians read verses from the Quran at Gaza City’s al-Omari mosque during Ramadan on 18 May.
Mahmoud Ajjour APA images

Israeli and international activists protest outside the Eurovision Song Contest final competition, during which Madonna performed despite Palestinian calls to boycott the event in Tel Aviv on 18 May.
Oren Ziv ActiveStills

Palestinians break their Ramadan fast next to a Gaza City building destroyed by Israel earlier in the month, 23 May.
Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians demonstrate outside Germany’s representative office in Gaza City to protest against the German parliament’s resolution the previous week equating the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights with anti-Semitism, 23 May.
Mahmoud Ajjour APA images

Palestinian worshipers make their way through the streets of Jerusalem’s Old City to attend Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque compound during Ramadan, 24 May.
Abdalrahman Alami APA images

Israeli occupation forces control the movement of Palestinians making their way through Qalandiya checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, to attend Friday prayers at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan, 24 May.
Ayat Arqawy APA images

Palestinian workers inspect pickled vegetables at a plant in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 27 May.
Mahmoud Khattab APA images

Omar Hajajla stands next to an electronic gate erected by Israel which he must cross to leave his home in al-Walaja village, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on 28 May. The Hajajla family’s home is located on the western side of Israel’s wall in the West Bank,  severing it from the surrounding village.
Abedalrahman Hassan APA images

Palestinian workers prepare mackerel for smoking before the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, 28 May.
Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians who lost their legs as a result of Israeli fire call for a boycott of the sportswear company Puma on the Gaza City beach on 29 May. Puma is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association, which includes teams in Israel’s illegal settlements built on occupied Palestinian land.
Mahmoud Ajjour APA images

Palestinians shop at a market in the West Bank city of Bethlehem for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, 30 May.
Abedalrahman Hassan APA images

Mourners carry the body of 16-year-old Palestinian Abdullah Luay Ghaith during his funeral in the West Bank city of Hebron on 31 May. The Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces as he tried to enter Jerusalem on the final Friday of Ramadan.
Abedalrahman Hassan APA images

An Israeli military drone drops tear gas canisters over Palestinian protesters during Great March of Return protests along the central Gaza Strip’s eastern boundary with Israel on 31 May.
Ashraf Amra APA images

A wounded Palestinian is evacuated during Great March of Return protests along the central Gaza Strip’s eastern boundary with Israel on 31 May.
Mahmoud Khattab APA images

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