Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are paying the price for an election they can’t vote in.
While Israel’s political future dominates headlines, its “full lockdown” of the occupied West Bank and ongoing bombings in Gaza received far less attention. Whatever the outcome of Israel’s election, the result will be the same: more of the occupation, dispossession, and killing that Palestinians saw this week.
Israel killed at least 15 Palestinians, including a 6-year-old girl shot in the neck, in separate incidents across Gaza this week, while simultaneously terrorizing Palestinians, journalists, and activists across the occupied West Bank.
In Hebron – a total closure of which was ordered after Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers – occupation forces forcibly displaced thousands of Palestinians, demolishing homes after giving some families just minutes to collect their belongings.
There, Israeli police also arrested U.S. journalist Jasper Nathaniel and activist Andrey Kharzhanovsky after illegal Israeli settlers attacked them – yes, you read that right.
While Israelis flocked to voting booths to decide who leads the oppression and occupation of Palestinians next, here is what Palestinians who don’t get a vote had to endure this week: