Palestine - August 2022

Three months before the 1 November elections, and following growing tensions on the Gaza border, Prime Minister Yair Lapid ordered airstrikes in response to Islamic Jihad threats. Palestinian officials said 44 Palestinians, including 15 children, as well as Islamic Jihad members, were killed, and more than 300 injured. The conflict resulted in power outages and border closures by Israel that had a grave effect on the Palestinian humanitarian and living conditions, blocking travellers in and out of the Gaza Strip and preventing aid from coming in. The fighting was the worst escalation of violence since the 11-day conflict seen in May 2021 that resulted in the displacement of 72,000 Palestinians. 

*Since the impact of these events are felt primarily in Palestine, they are coded as impacting democracy and human rights in that country. While they are not coded as having these impacts for Israel, it is Israeli action that causes the effects on democracy in Palestine.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Cable News Network, The Jerusalem Post, Middle East Monitor, Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Relief Web, The Peninsula Qatar, Times of Israel, United Nations News

Several social media accounts of Palestinian activists, journalists and media institutions have been restricted and deleted by the Israeli government following widespread attention received from their reports on the recent three-day Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. The digital restrictions are a continuation of a systematic effort to silence Palestinian civil society, press, legal and community institutions. This has been condemned by the United Nations as a clear and systematic violation of freedoms of opinion, expression and publication, in an attempt to prevent the coverage of violations committed by the Israeli authorities against the Palestinian population.

At the same time, Israel’s harassment of human rights defenders and humanitarian workers in Palestine continued, as communities endure threats by risks of forcible transfer, including mass forced evictions and arbitrary displacement. This has been condemned by United Nations experts, with special rapporteurs calling on Israel to put an end to this.

*Since the impact of these events are felt primarily in Palestine, they are coded as impacting democracy and human rights in that country. While they are not coded as having these impacts for Israel, it is Israeli action that causes the effects on democracy in Palestine.

Sources: American Broadcasting Company News, Al Monitor (1), Al Monitor (2), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2), Times of Israel

The Israeli government has cancelled the permanent licenses of six Palestinian schools in East Jerusalem, alleging that their textbooks contain "incitement" against it and its army. This comes as part of a systematic targeting of the Palestinian educational system. Children are denied the right to education, a strategy to disempower future generations and drive displacement by forcing Palestinians to leave the land to seek better opportunities for their children.

*Since the impact of these events are felt primarily in Palestine, they are coded as impacting democracy and human rights in that country. While they are not coded as having these impacts for Israel, it is Israeli action that causes the effects on democracy in Palestine.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Norwegian Refugee Council