The Month in Pictures: September 2015

Palestinians run for cover from a sound grenade fired by Israeli police during clashes as Palestinians protested Israeli aggression on the al-Aqsa mosque compound on 28 September.

Mahfouz Abu Turk APA images

The last week of September saw Palestine on the brink of “the most significant escalation of violent attacks and clashes across the West Bank, particularly in East Jerusalem, since June 2014,” according to the United Nations monitoring group OCHA.

In June 2014 Israel launched its largest military offensive in the occupied West Bank in a decade, followed by its 51 consecutive days of intensive bombing of Gaza that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians and left tens of thousands without shelter.

The current flare in violence followed Israeli assaults on the al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, and a tightening of restrictions on Palestinian access to the holy site to secure entry of Jewish settlers and other Israeli groups.

The increasingly violent Israeli incursions at one the most revered holy sites for Muslims have accompanied the rise in recent years of so-called “Temple activism” groups. Their goal is the construction of a Jewish “Third Temple” to replace the currently existing structures that make up al-Aqsa mosque.

During September dozens were injured in confrontations with Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Old City, and at demonstrations across the West Bank protesting what Palestinians view as efforts to change the status of al-Aqsa mosque.

Israeli uniformed forces killed two Palestinians, including 18-year-old student Hadil Hashlamoun, who was shot multiple times at a checkpoint in Hebron on 22 September. Israel claimed the woman attempted to stab a soldier but Amnesty International said evidence indicates that the incident amounted to extrajudicial execution.

Two days later, 25-year-old Ahmad Izzat Khatatbeh died of gunshot wounds sustained during clashes with Israeli forces at the Beit Furik checkpoint near Nablus a week earlier. Also on 22 September, 21-year-old Diyaa Abdulhalim Talahmah was killed when an explosive device he was attempting to throw at an Israeli military vehicle detonated in Khursa village near Hebron, according to OCHA.

Settler violence

No one has yet been charged in connection to the deaths of a Palestinian family who were burned alive in their West Bank home. Riham Dawabsha succumbed her injuries on 6 September, more than a month after the attack in Duma village that claimed the lives of her husband, Saad, and their 18-month-old son, Ali. Ahmed, 4 years old, is the sole survivor of the assault.

During September, Israeli settlers assaulted a 20-year-old Palestinian in Hebron and, in a separate incident, rammed and killed seven sheep on a road south of the city. A 7-year-old boy was injured in a hit-and-run in the city. Settlers reportedly damaged 550 trees in southern Hebron in an arson attack, and a water cistern was damaged by settlers in the area, according to OCHA.

Another 7-year-old boy was assaulted by Israeli settlers in Nablus, where six other Palestinians were injured when stones were thrown at their cars, and Palestinian-owned agricultural land was set on fire in the nearby village of Burin. A Palestinian man who mistakenly entered Shavei Shomron settlement west of Nablus was attacked.

Two Israeli settlers were served with indictments related to an August arson attack on a Bedouin dwelling, the first indictment in connection to an arson attack this year, OCHA reported.

Palestinians also attacked Israelis in the West Bank. An Israeli settler was killed in a car crash and his two daughters injured in East Jerusalem after Palestinians threw stones at their vehicle. Additional injuries were reported after stone-throwing incidents in the Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Ramallah areas. Five settlers were injured when Molotov cocktails were thrown at houses in a settlement in Jerusalem, and an Israeli was physically assaulted in Jerusalem’s Old City, according to OCHA.

Gaza Strip

Conditions also deteriorated in Gaza during September. Two entire families were among dozens of Palestinians from the territory arrested trying to cross into Israel without authorization; a 24-year-old was shot with live ammunition before being arrested and a teenage boy was bitten by a dog handled by Israeli forces and beaten when he and a friend attempted to cross the boundary fence looking for work.

The economic standstill in Gaza after nearly a decade of blockade and repeated large-scale military assaults has resulted in 42 percent unemployment there; among youth that rate soars to 60 percent.

Palestinian armed groups in Gaza opened fire at houses in southern Israel on 2 September; no injuries were reported. Israeli forces targeted a site in Gaza reportedly used for military training following the incident.

Several rockets were also fired from Gaza towards Israel, one causing property damage in Sderot. Israeli air forces hit a telecommunications tower and a water tower in Gaza on 19 September, also causing damage to nearby houses and injuring two civilians.

Children stand in the burnt home of the Dawabsheh family before the funeral ceremony of Riham, who died of her injuries more than one month after the arson attack by suspected Jewish extremists that killed her 18-month-old baby Ali and her husband Saad, 7 September.

Yotam Ronen ActiveStills

Palestinian children in Gaza City observe a tribute to Aylan Kurdi on 7 September. A photograph showing the body of the 3-year-old Syrian boy went viral after he drowned along with his mother and brother when their boat capsized off the Turkish coast.

Mohammed Asad APA images

Palestinians bid farewell to loved ones before leaving the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt for the annual hajj pilgrimage in Mecca on 7 September. The crossing has been closed since late last October, with only intermittent exception. Egypt temporarily opened the crossing to allow thousands of pilgrims to travel to Saudi Arabia via Cairo International Airport.

Abed Rahim Khatib APA images

A Palestinian man leads a flock of sheep during a sandstorm in the West bank city of Nablus on 8 September.

Nedal Eshtayah APA images

A Palestinian woman stands outside her house that was destroyed by Israeli bombing in the summer of 2014 as a sandstorm sweeps across Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 9 September.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians hold vigil in front of the Red Cross offices in the West Bank city of Nablus while calling for international intervention against Israel’s policy of holding Palestinians without charge or trial on 10 September.

Ahmad Al-Bazz ActiveStills

Palestinians clean up debris inside al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City after clashes at the compound between Palestinians and Israeli police just hours before the start of the Jewish New Year on 13 September.

Mahfouz Abu Turk APA images

A Palestinian teacher works with a student the school in Yanoun village southeast of the West Bank city of Nablus on 15 September. A seven-member staff teaches students in the 100 square meter school built in 1970. The school cannot expand without Israel’s authorization.

Nedal Eshtayah APA images

Hamas supporters in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, protest on 18 September against the Israeli police raid on Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque earlier that week.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Islamic Jihad supporters in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, protest on 18 September against the Israeli police raid on Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque earlier that week.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Motorists queue at a filling station in Gaza City on 21 September. Fuel supply to Gaza, including to its sole power plant, was disrupted due to the closure of its crossing points by Israel during the high Jewish holidays and lack of coordination among Palestinian authorities, according to the UN monitoring group OCHA. Electricity cuts in the territory reached up to 20 hours per day.

Yasser Qudih APA images

Israeli police forces stand guard in Jerusalem as cement blocks are placed on a road linking the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiyeh to western Jerusalem on 22 September ahead of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.

Mahfouz Abu Turk APA images

Mourners carry the body of Hadil Hashlamoun, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman who was shot dead by Israeli forces at a checkpoint, during her funeral in the West Bank city of Hebron on 23 September.

Shadi Hatem APA images

A Palestinian man prays over the graves of relatives in a cemetery in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha on 24 September.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinian Muslims pray on the first day of Eid al-Adha or the feast of sacrifice, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 24 September.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinians in Beit Furik village near the West Bank city of Nablus mourn during the 25 September funeral of Ahmad Khatatbeh, 26, who died after being shot by Israeli forces at the Beit Furik military checkpoint a week earlier.

Ahmad Al-Bazz ActiveStills

Palestinian tannery workers salt the hides of sacrificed animals during second day of Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice, in Gaza City on 25 September.

Mohammed Asad APA images

A blood moon is pictured at the beginning of a total lunar eclipse above Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on 28 September.

Ashraf Amra APA images

A member of the 3 Run Gaza team practices his parkour skills on a Gaza City building on 29 September in preparation for the first Arab parkour competition in Qatar in November.

Mohammed Asad APA images

A Palestinian man stands in front of Israeli policemen as they block the road leading to al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City on 29 September.

Mahfouz Abu Turk APA images

Israeli border police arrest a wounded Palestinian during clashes over tension in Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah September 29, 2015. Israeli police and Palestinians clashed on Sunday at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound, where violence in recent weeks has raised international concern.

Shadi Hatem APA images

A Palestinian man looks at the damage following an Israeli air strike on a site along the beach north of Gaza City on 30 September.

Ashraf Amra APA images

Palestinian workers collect bundles of dates harvested from palm trees in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 30 September.

Abed Rahim Khatib APA images

Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus watch a live screening of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the United Nations followed by the raising of the Palestinian flag at the world body’s New York headquarters on 30 September. Earlier in the week the UN General Assembly, by a two-thirds vote, adopted a resolution allowing the flags of Palestine and the Holy See, both of which have non-member observer status, to be hoisted alongside those of member states.

Nedal Eshtayah APA images

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