Ramallah- At the end of 2023, Palestine bid farewell to a year burdened with blood, destruction, and Israeli violations, in full view of the world and sometimes with the support of major powers.
Wounded Gaza bids farewell to the year with a list of thousands of martyrs and destruction “comparable to, if not higher than, the levels of destruction inflicted on German cities during World War II (1939-1945),” according to a statement by the European Union representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell.
While the West Bank continues to bleed as the occupation continues to kill, arrest, displace, settle, and plunder lands and wealth.
Below we review the most prominent violations of the occupation in Palestine during 2023, based on official Palestinian human rights sources, most notably the Ministry of Health, the Wall Resistance Authority, the “Shirin” Human Rights Observatory, and the Applied Research Institute (ARIJ).
Martyrs and wounded
The number of martyrs reached about 22,349, including 21,822 in the Gaza Strip who were martyred in the Israeli aggression since October 7, in addition to about 7,000 missing persons, and 527 martyrs in the West Bank, including 318 after October 7.
Among the martyrs of Gaza were 9,000 children, 6,450 female martyrs, 312 medical personnel, 40 civil defense personnel, 106 journalists, and 136 United Nations employees.
The number of martyrs in the educational sector was more than 4,037 students and 209 educational employees, and among the wounded were 7,259 students and 619 employees.
As for the martyrs of the West Bank, they included about 74 children in a year that “was the bloodiest year ever for children in the West Bank,” according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and there were also 5 elderly people and 9 prisoners, and the occupation is still holding the bodies of 34 of them.
The number of wounded in the Gaza Strip reached 56,451, and about 9,600 in the West Bank, including 3,800 after October 7.
Targeting the health sector
In its aggression against Gaza, the occupation targeted ambulances, partially destroying 104 of them and 142 health institutions, and putting 23 hospitals and 53 health centers out of service.
Displacement and exodus
Displacement has reached catastrophic levels, as the number of displaced people in Gaza is estimated at 1,900,000. They are exposed to the dangers of famine, extreme cold, and the spread of diseases and epidemics, according to international organizations, while about 800,000 suffer from severe hunger in the northern Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, 28 Palestinian communities were displaced due to attacks by settlers and the occupation army, and the number of displaced people is estimated at about 2,330, including about 1,208 after October 7.
Arrests
Since the beginning of the year, the occupation in the West Bank has arrested about 10,276 Palestinian men and women, including 4,876 after the Al-Aqsa flood, and about 5,400 in the first nine months of this year, while the number of those currently inside prisons is estimated at about 7,800, in addition to about 2,600 detainees from the Gaza Strip. Gaza after October 7.
Targeting mosques
In Gaza, during the aggression, the occupation destroyed 117 mosques completely and about 208 partially, while 48,223 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem in 214 raids throughout 2023, and prevented the call to prayer about 600 times in the Ibrahimi Mosque, according to statistics available for 10 months of 2023.
Settlement
According to the ARIJ Institute, 210 settlement plans were announced during 2023, including 58 in East Jerusalem, which include 5,760 settlement units on an area of 3,470 dunums (a dunum equals a thousand square metres).
The occupation announced 152 plans in the West Bank, including 21,988 settlement units, to be built on approximately 9,657 dunums.
In addition to the plans, 938 kilometers of settlement roads were built, during which thousands of dunams were confiscated, and thousands more were confiscated under military orders and various pretexts.
Pastoral settlements, which are small gatherings of settler livestock breeders, have also seized about 150,000 dunams since the beginning of the year.
By the end of 2023, the number of settlements in the West Bank reached 176 settlements, and 179 settlement outposts, inhabited by a total of about 730 thousand settlers.
As for attacks, settlers carried out approximately 2,140 attacks, most of which resulted in property damage or injuries against Palestinian citizens.
The attacks by the occupation army and settlers affected about 18,80 trees, most of which were olive trees that were uprooted or destroyed.
Barriers and obstacles
The Palestinians of the West Bank bid farewell to the year 2023 with hundreds of checkpoints closing their cities and villages, and restricting their freedom of movement.
The number of military checkpoints of various types and shapes in the West Bank reached 567 checkpoints as of October 6, including 77 main checkpoints and 490 other checkpoints (earthen berms, concrete cubes, and iron gates). After the start of the war on Gaza, these barriers increased, and more than 140 new barriers and obstacles were added, bringing the total number to 707 barriers.
Demolish and destroy
The Government Information Office in Gaza estimates the number of destroyed housing units at approximately 355,000, partially or completely destroyed since October 7.
As for the West Bank, ARIJ data indicates the demolition of about 949 Palestinian homes and commercial and agricultural facilities, in addition to hundreds of demolition notices.
Violations against the media
The total number of violations against journalists reached about 224, including 106 martyrs, 34 prisoners, and the destruction of the headquarters of 50 media outlets, while hundreds of media professionals and their families were displaced in Gaza.