Even amidst an unprecedented global pandemic, Israel’s occupation forces continue their violence against Palestinians.

Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian man in the head near the entrance of the occupied West Bank village of Nilin on Sunday.

The Israeli army claimed that Sufian Khawaja was hurling stones at vehicles when he was shot dead.

Pictures of Khawaja and his family were circulated by Palestinian media:

الشهيــد سفيان الخواجا التي ارتقى برصاص الاحتلال على مدخل بلدة نعلين غرب رام الله قبل قليل.#رام_الله #فلسطين pic.twitter.com/Q3MmPyv2SF — شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@QudsNN) March 22, 2020

صور | عائلة الشهــيد سفيان الخواجا، الذي ارتقى بعد إصابته برصاص الاحتلال على مدخل نعلين برام الله، فجر اليوم. pic.twitter.com/hsxpSGc3KF — فلسطين بوست (@plespost) March 23, 2020

Another Palestinian, said to be Khawaja’s cousin, was reportedly injured in the same incident but escaped.

A vehicle was damaged, according to The Times of Israel, but no Israelis were reported injured, as in many previous cases in which an alleged Palestinian attacker was killed.

Israeli forces reportedly prevented an ambulance from reaching Khawaja to provide treatment. Occupation forces habitually deny first aid to Palestinians they shoot, causing them to bleed to death.

The Palestinian Authority foreign ministry condemned the killing of Khawaja, saying Israel has turned its soldiers into “mobile killing machines, and defenseless Palestinian civilians into targets for shooting and training.”

The ministry said it will pursue Khawaja’s killing and other crimes at the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council.

“The horror of this crime stands out amidst the coronavirus pandemic,” the ministry stated.

Despite such condemnations, the Palestinian Authority has since its founding in the early 1990s maintained close cooperation with Israeli occupation forces, under the banner of “security coordination.”

Both major Palestinian political factions – Fatah, which dominates the Palestinians Authority, and Hamas, the resistance organization running the interior of the besieged Gaza Strip – condemned the slaying.

Israel is now withholding Khawaja’s body.

Israel routinely withholds the remains of Palestinians slain by occupation forces to use them as bargaining chips in future negotiations and as collective punishment.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian vehicle with stones on Monday, smashing its windows, near the northern West Bank town of Silat al-Dahr.

Settlers enjoy near-total impunity for violence against Palestinians and their property.

Raids and arrests

Meanwhile, Israel is escalating its incursions in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh despite the global health crisis.

Israel intensified its assaults on Issawiyeh residents last summer, conducting raids, arbitrary arrests, demolitions and routine harassment of the neighborhood’s residents.

Border police and army soldiers habitually conduct raids and arrest children, interrogating them without family members or attorneys present:

قوات الاحتلال تعتقل الطفل "رضا محمد عيسى عبيد" من بلدة العيسوية شرق القدس pic.twitter.com/FQLmOykXrj — وكالة شهاب (@ShehabAgency) March 23, 2020

Now, abuse by Israeli police is “a permanent feature of life in the neighborhood,” according to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

Recent raids particularly jeopardize public health in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“At this sensitive time, such conduct exposes residents to substantial, completely unnecessary health risks, as it encourages gatherings and forces arrested residents, including many minors, to leave home and be around strangers,” B’Tselem said.

Demolitions

While the Israeli government takes new measures to try to contain the coronavirus outbreak, it still has the will and finds the resources to oppress Palestinians.

In the fight against #coronavirus, @Israel is shutting down all but essential services. But it still finds time to... pic.twitter.com/uAkfmEjE8u — Adalah (@AdalahEnglish) March 19, 2020

Tonight, while everyone is supposed to be in isolation, the Jerusalem police are using the time to continue to violently carry out a campaign of collective punishment against residents of Issawiya in occupied East Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/PGQDMOC2Pi — 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒂 𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒔𝒔 -هيذر شارونا (@sharona_weiss) March 18, 2020

Israeli occupation forces demolished an old stone structure and a barn in al-Sawahreh, southwest of occupied Jerusalem on Thursday.

The structures, demolished under the pretext of carrying out restoration work and without prior warning, reportedly belonged to the family of Salim Zahaykeh.

Local media circulated pictures of Israeli occupation forces carrying out the demolition:

الاحتلال يهدم بناء حجريًا قديمًا وحظيرة أغنام في برية السواحرة جنوبي شرق مدينة #القدس المحتلة، اليوم.#فلسطين #مجزرة_الهدم pic.twitter.com/waAcDAJ50L — شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@QudsNN) March 19, 2020

Meanwhile, dozens of Israelis entered the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, amongst them Likud lawmaker Yehuda Glick, last week.

Glick is a leading figure in the Jewish extremist movement, supported by many prominent Israeli leaders, to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque and replace it with a Jewish temple.

The Islamic Waqf – the body responsible for Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem – called on worshippers to adhere to coronavirus preventive measures but didn’t suspend prayers until Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced a lockdown on the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

ساحات المسجد الأقصى المبارك خالية تماما بعد إغلاق المسجد بسبب #كورونا pic.twitter.com/2WmZTeyL2T — وكالة شهاب (@ShehabAgency) March 23, 2020

Gaza on the brink

Two people tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

These were the first confirmed cases in Gaza.

While the pair were already in quarantine when diagnosed, 29 people they came into contact with were placed in compulsory quarantine as well.

Fears of an outbreak loom heavy on the enclave’s two million people, living in one of the most densely populated places in the world.

This comes on top of dire conditions which the UN predicted in 2015 would make Gaza uninhabitable by 2020.

Gaza’s economy and health infrastructure have been brought to the brink of collapse by three major Israeli military assaults since 2008 and a 13-year blockade.

There are currently only 70 intensive care hospital beds in Gaza and, according to a UN expert, supplies of vital medicines remain at “chronically low” levels.