The Palestinian people remember the Annual Commemoration of Land Day, in which six Palestinians martyred by the Israeli occupation. It is the day in which the Israeli occupation laid hand over and confiscated 21 thousand dunums of land in Al-Jalil, Al-Muthalath and Al-Naqab on the 30th of March 1976. Accordingly, this day has become a commemoration to embody the belonging of the Palestinian people to their homeland, and to commemorate those young martyrs.
The number of Palestinians exceeds the number of Israelis in historical Palestine, while the Israeli occupation controls more than 85% of the land
The estimated number of Palestinians in the world at the end of 2023 was about 14.63 million inhabitants, 5.55 million of them are residents in the State of Palestine, and about 1.75 million Palestinians live in the 1948 territories, while the number of Palestinians in the Arab countries reached about 6.56 million, and about 772 thousand in foreign countries.
Thus, the number of Palestinians in historic Palestine reached about 7.3 million, while the number of Israelis reached 7.2 million by the end of 2023, which means that the number of Palestinians exceeds the number of Israelis in historical Palestine. However, the Israeli occupation exploits more than 85% of the total land in historic Palestine, knowing that Israelis, during the era of the British Mandate until 1947, exploited only 1,682 km2, which constituted 6.2% of the land of historical Palestine.
The Israeli occupation is still imposing its control over more Palestinian lands in the West Bank under various pretexts and names, as the confiscated areas doubled during 2023 (50,526) dunums, compared to 2022, which was (26,000) dunums. During 2023, 32 sequestration orders were issued regarding about 619 dunums, four expropriation orders for approximately 433 dunums, two orders declaring state land for approximately 515 dunums, in addition to four orders amending the boundaries of natural reserves through which 48,959 dunums were confiscated. All of such were part of the systematic and ongoing policy to control all Palestinian lands and deprive them from exploiting their natural resources.
More than 32,700 martyrs in Palestine since the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7th, 2023
The number of martyrs in Palestine since the start of the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7th, 2023 until March 27th, 2024 reached more than 32,700 martyrs; more than 14,000 children and more than 9,200 women, in addition to more than 135 journalists were martyred according to the records of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza Strip. While the number of martyrs reached 450 martyrs in the West Bank since the start of the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7th, 2023, including 116 children.
Moreover, the number of missing persons reported in Gaza Strip reached more than 7,000, more than 60% of them are children and women. In addition to 80,000 wounded and nearly 2 million citizens were forcibly displaced toward southern Gaza Strip, which has become more densely populated of more than 30,000 individuals/km2. They cannot find the simplest necessities of life due to the lack of food, drink, and housing, and the scarcity of health care due to the inability of medical teams to care for these displaced people.
More than 70% of the housing units in Gaza Strip are uninhabitable
Since the Israeli occupation aggression on Gaza Strip on October 7th, 2023, the Israeli occupation has destroyed more than 31,000 buildings, 17,000 severely damaged buildings and 41,000 moderately damaged buildings, for a total of about 89,000 damaged buildings, where 104 buildings of which belong to the United Nations.
Data shows that the number of housing units that have been completely destroyed is estimated to be 79 thousand, in addition to the partially destruction of more than 290 thousand housing units, constituting about 70% of the total housing units in Gaza Strip.
In addition to the destruction of schools, universities, hospitals, mosques, churches, and government headquarters, as well as the destruction of thousands of economic establishments and more than 20% of agricultural areas, and the destruction of all aspects of infrastructure, including streets, water lines, electricity, and sewage lines, making Gaza Strip an uninhabitable place to survive.
Numbers of damaged buildings in Gaza Strip since October 7th 2023, by type of building and type of damage
During 2023, the Israeli occupation demolished and destroyed more than 659 buildings and facilities, completely or partially in the West Bank, including 70 self-demolition operations in Jerusalem, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in addition to issuing 1,333 demolition orders for Palestinian facilities under the pretext of not having a license.
Self-Demolitions in Jerusalem Governorate 2008 – 2023
A severe water and famine crisis and limited access to water and food threaten the lives of the population of Gaza Strip
The population of Gaza Strip are lacking the basic essentials of life, including housing, food, and water. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) indicated that no less than 70% of the population of Gaza Strip is at risk of famine, which means that the population of Gaza Strip is suffering from catastrophic hunger, and this indicates that Gaza Strip is now considered one of the most famished regions in the world. Data indicate that 90% of children aged 6 to 23 months and pregnant women face severe nutritional deficiencies, and more than 27 Palestinians lost their lives due to hunger and dehydration, most of them children.
Gaza Strip suffers from a severe crisis in accessing water, where under normal conditions in times before October 7th, the average per capita consumption of water in Gaza Strip was estimated at approximately 84.6 liters/person/day. However and since the beginning of the Israeli occupation aggression, this figure has dropped to only 3-15 (l/c/d). The quantities of water that reach citizens vary greatly according to the geographical location, water supplied, the destruction of the infrastructure, and the ongoing displacement. The minimum amount of water for survival is estimated at about 15 (l/c/d). The total amount of water currently available is estimated at about 10-20% of the total water available in Gaza Strip before the Israeli occupation aggression, where it is subject to change due to lack of fuel.
More than 9,100 detainees in Israeli occupation prisons
According to the data of Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs for 2024, the number of detainees in the Israeli occupation prisons reached more than 9,100 by the end of February, including (3,600) administrative detainees (detained without charge), and (793) classified as (unlawful combatants). There are (68) female detainees in the Israeli occupation prisons, and the number of detainees children in the Israeli occupation prisons reached (204), untill 24/03/2024, while the number of arrest cases reached (the number includes those are still detained as well those released) More than 7,770 in the West Bank since the beginning of the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7, 2023 until March 25, 2024.
Israeli Settlements: Continuous Expansion
By the end of 2022, there were 483 Israeli occupation sites and military bases in the West Bank, including 151 settlements and 25 inhabited outposts that considered as neighborhoods following established settlements, in addition to 163 settlement outposts, and 144 classified as other sites (industrial, tourists, service areas and Israeli army bases).
As for the number of settlers in the West Bank, it reached 745,467 settlers by the end of 2023, data show that around 45.1% of settlers live in Jerusalem Governorate, where their number reached about 336,272 settlers; out of which 246,990 settlers live in East Jerusalem (J1) “includes those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israeli occupation in 1967”,, followed by Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate with 149,143 settlers, 98,384 settlers in Bethlehem Governorate, and 53,455 settlers in Salfit Governorate. While Tubas & the Northern Valleys Governorate has the lowest number of settlers that reach 2,717 settlers.
In regards to demographics, the proportion of settlers to Palestinian population in the West Bank is about 23 settlers per 100 Palestinians. It was the highest in Jerusalem Governorate, where there were 69 settlers per 100 Palestinians. Accordingly, 2023 witnessed a significant increase in the pace of construction and expansion of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, where the Israeli occupation approved the construction of more than 18,000 new settlement housing units in West Bank and Jerusalem Governorate.
More than 12,000 attacks by settlers
In 2023, settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation army, carried out about 12,161 attacks against Palestinian citizens and their property; the attacks included 3,808 attacks on property and religious places, 707 attacks on lands and natural resources, and 7,646 attacks on individuals. These attacks also caused the uprooting, damage, and bulldozing of more than 21,700 trees, including about 18,964 olive trees.
Sources:
- Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 2023: Israeli settlements in the West Bank 2022. Ramallah – Palestine.
- Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission 2024, the most prominent violations of the Israeli occupation State and colonizers in the occupied Palestinian territories, annual report, 2023. Ramallah – Palestine.
- Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, 2024. Annual Detainees Report 2023. Ramallah – Palestine.
- Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories (OCHA), 2023.
- Palestinian Ministry of Health – General Directorate of Emergency, 2024. Annual report on Israeli occupation attacks, 2023. Ramallah – Palestine.